Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
The crew on the Drillboat Apache brings in lines tied to explosives used to break up rocks at the bottom of the Delaware River near Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. It’s one of the final stages of a controversial project to deepen the river’s shipping channel.
StateImpact Pennsylvania, Newsworks.org, WHYY and NJ Spotlight are collaborating on a series of stories about the Delaware River Watershed.
The watershed stretches from upstate New York through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, emptying out in the Delaware Bay. It supplies water to more than 15 million people, or about 5% of the nation’s population. Its natural lands both protect clean water and provide a habitat of regional and hemispheric importance.
The story of the river includes stories of its people and wildlife that depend on it for survival; the threats to continued sources of clean water; and the river as an economic engine.
The project is funded by The William Penn Foundation. Below are contributions from StateImpact Pennsylvania.
The company says the ongoing work isn’t construction — but people who have experience with the pipeline don’t trust the company.
As part of the agreement with Pa. environmental regulators, Sunoco will be allowed to restart construction near Marsh Creek Lake State Park in Chester County.
The report by the group Physicians for a Social Responsibility is based on a public records request. The group didn’t find evidence of the chemicals used in PA wells.
Philadelphia and four suburban towns sued in March over the General Assembly’s ban on plastic bag bans.
Pipeline construction has been disrupting residents’ lives since November, according to the management at Glen Riddle Station apartments in Media.
The novel use of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams law allows the county to now hold Energy Transfer accountable independent of DEP and the PUC.
By
Susan Phillips 
A judge found Sunoco in violation of rules around public safety communication, and ordered the company to bury some lines deeper. She did not halt operation of the lines.
By
Susan Phillips 
Leonard Stewart: “When you build on wetlands, the water doesn’t have anywhere to go. That’s when everything gets flooded.”
By Leonard Stewart 
Stacy Levy: “What if the shorelines were lush with trees and birds and peaceful, shady places to walk and hang out?”
By Stacy Levy 
In voting to ban the practice, the four states that are part of the commission cited scientific evidence that fracking has polluted drinking water, surface water, and groundwater.
