Krancer Calls Delaware's Stance on Drilling "Political"
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Susan Phillips
Pennsylvaniaâs top environmental regulator is not just taking the EPA to task, heâs also got some choice words for Delaware officials. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer blames the state of Delaware for holding up gas drilling in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, where the Delaware River Basin Commission has imposed a moratorium.
Delaware, along with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the federal government all hold a seat on the Delaware River Basin Commission. The commission says gas drilling cannot begin within the river basin until the commissioners agree on new regulations. But the decision on those proposed rules has stalled, partly due to Delawareâs concerns about the environmental impacts of drilling. Pennsylvania has pushed the DRBC to open up Wayne and Pike counties to gas drilling. Secretary Krancer calls the delay â100 percent unadulterated political.â He says Delaware has no reason to worry about water quality.
âIf you look at the map, youâll see that Delaware draws zero water, for drinking water, from the Delaware River,â Krancer told StateImpact.
Krancer is referring to Delawareâs intakes along the Christiana River. Although the Christiana, as a tributary, is part of the Delaware River watershed, and feeds into the main branch of the river, no fracking, or gas drilling, occurs upriver from Delawareâs intake points.
âSo when you peel back the onion,â says Krancer. âYou see that itâs 100-percent political, in terms of Delaware.â
But Krancerâs equivalent in the First State, the head of Delawareâs Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, says both New Jersey and New York are just as cautious as Delaware, when it comes to drilling. DNREC Secretary Collin OâMara says itâs Pennsylvania thatâs acting out against the wishes of the other members on the Commission.
âAll other states disagree with Pennsylvania,â says OâMara. âThey all agree that we should have a science based, rigorous regulatory regime because the consequences of failing to do it well could be devastating for years to come.â
OâMara calls Pennsylvaniaâs gas drilling regulations âcavalier.â New Jersey does not lie above any significant shale deposits, so no drilling is planned in that state. New York has its own moratorium in place while it works on establishing its own regulations. OâMara says in the meantime, New York wants the DRBC to delay voting on any gas drilling proposals.
âProtecting public health and insuring clean water is not a political issue,â says OâMara.
OâMara says the consensus among commissioners is that a more rigorous regulatory framework should be in place, than the one that currently exists in Pennsylvania.