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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.

November 17, 2011 | 6:32 PM

Susan Phillips / StateImpact Pennsylvania

A view of the Delaware River from Milford, Pa.

An environmental group has just published a guide for all would-be protestors planning on attending the Delaware River Basin Commission meeting on Monday. The DRBC is scheduled to discuss and vote on the proposed gas drilling regulations. Rumors are floating that this vote may not even take place. But If the rules are adopted, the moratorium on drilling in the basin will be lifted. Drilling opponents want the Commission to continue the moratorium and conduct an environmental impact study. A contingent of anti-fracking bicycle enthusiasts will actually pedal their way to Trenton. The trip takes three hours by bike, but there are much easier and faster ways to get to Trenton.
Protecting Our Waters is also encouraging drilling opponents to attend nonviolence training sessions ahead of time.

“So here’s the plan: There are 2,000 seats in the auditorium. We need to fill as many of those seats as possible with people against fracking. Together we will engage in an ORGANIZED, DIGNIFIED, PEACEFUL protest. In order to plug in, we need you to come to a training the night before or attend the briefing the morning of the 21st.”

But the drilling opponents might have a hard time filling all those seats. Plenty of residents from northeast Pennsylvania who want the moratorium lifted will also be in Trenton. Curt Coccodrilli is a member of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance. Coccodrilli and his neighbors formed the association to gain negotiating power with the gas companies. He says their lease includes strong environmental standards for well casings and water use. Coccodrilli also thinks the DRBC regulations will protect the environment. He says drilling opponents don’t understand how much natural gas production would improve the lives of impoverished Wayne County residents.

“I saw a press release last night from them that they’re bringing in the labor movement,” said Coccodrilli. “Well, to me that would be non-labor movement. Because nothing that they’re doing would be pro-active or productive to move this along, responsible production along.”

For more information on the newly proposed gas drilling rules, click here.