Secretary Krancer Calls Delaware Officials "Dogs"

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

May 3, 2012 | 2:09 PM

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

A German Shepard bares its teeth at an attack dog training session.

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer is no friend to the EPA. He’s made that clear almost every time he speaks about gas drilling, even while testifying before Congress. Now, Krancer seems to be barking at Delaware. At a forum last week in northeast Pennsylvania hosted by the Wayne County Builders Association, Krancer expressed his frustration with Delaware’s role on the Delaware River Basin Commission. The Wayne Independent reported on the forum, where Krancer seemed to dodge any questions about a state law known as Chapter 102, which creates setbacks from waterways. But according to the Wayne Independent, the Secretary jumped right in when a question came up about the DRBC’s current moratorium on drilling in Wayne County.

Krancer said the governor is at “his wit’s end” with the DRBC.
He also said the issues are “being driven by the governor of Delaware,” adding he is “not confident the voters of Delaware are going to make the right decision” when choosing the next governor.
Krancer also was critical of the fact the bulk of Delaware does not get its water from the Delaware River yet they are the driving force behind the commission.
“Sometimes they smell like the tail of a dog,” said Krancer of Delaware. “And it (the state) is shaped like a dog with a tail. This is the tail wagging the dog.”

Krancer recently told StateImpact Pennsylvania that Delaware’s opposition to drilling is purely political, but never used the dog reference. The DRBC has a moratorium on drilling until it approves new rules. But that process is stalled, partly because Delaware wants an environmental impact statement, and New York wants to hold off until they agree on their own drilling rules. Of the five members on the commission, Pennsylvania has been the most in favor of lifting the moratorium.