Let’s stand together to defend the fracking ban in the Delaware River Watershed!
Please consider taking the Pledge to Defend the Delaware River Watershed from fracking. A permanent ban prohibiting high volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in the Delaware River Watershed was adopted by the DRBC in February 2021 following a moratorium on gas drilling instituted in 2010 and after more than ten years of comprehensive research and public input, which concluded with the ban.
But special interests have attacked the ban on fracking recently and we are rallying to resist any and all efforts to overturn the ban. The Pledge, already signed by some people, is available now to be signed by individuals, stating “I Take This Pledge of Resistance and Protection…in solidarity to uphold the ban on high volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and to resist all the harmful activities that fossil gas/oil development brings.”
U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan from Pennsylvania’s Eighth District criticized the DRBC’s ban on fracking and called for “unleashing energy dominance” at a March meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin and fracking proponents, claiming Mr. Zeldin expressed support for “the natural gas industry in the Delaware River Basin.” Since then Rep. Bresnahan added, “I’m committed to reigning in bureaucratic groups like the DRBC.”
Adding to the pressures being put on the DRBC as an autonomous interstate agency is federal bill HR 3428 introduced by Congressman Bresnahan to “require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a review of the Mid-Atlantic River Basin Commissions, and for other purposes.” The bill specifically targets the DRBC and two other commissions with a federal review of their “ethics, policies and practices”, funding sources, and whether their role is “duplicative” of federal authorities. HR 3428 has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Congressman Scott Perry, [R-PA-10] is a cosponsor.
Attacking the ban is not new even if past attempts have failed and frackers have found it’s not all that easy to undo the DRBC’s adopted regulations. In February the ban was upheld by the Court, throwing out a nine-year challenge by the Wayne Land and Mineral Group. This newest offensive requires our pledge of support of the frack ban to assure we are protected from the long arm of federal politics and industry influence. PLEASE JOIN US BY TAKING THE PLEDGE below: