Climate Bills and a Green Economy

Just in Time for the Clean Energy Bill Before the Senate (and 'Conveniently Coinciding' with the BP Oil Spill) Report Claims Upper Delaware River Most Endangered in U.S. Because of Gas Drilling

June 2, 2010

Reuters - The Upper Delaware River in New York State, the source of drinking water for 17 million people, is the most endangered river in the United States, according to a new report.

It is one of 10 rivers on a list, compiled by U.S. environmental group American Rivers, which are threatened due to causes such as natural gas drilling, mining and poor flood management.

The Upper Delaware topped the list because of the threat of contamination from chemicals used in gas drilling in New York and on the Pennsylvania side of the watershed.

Gas drilling was also the reason why the Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania was rated ninth on the list.

Others endangered rivers include the Gauley River in West Virginia, which came in third and is threatened by mountain-top mining, and the Upper Colorado River, which is sixth and has been diminished by water diversions. The report said it could become "a shadow of its former self" if two new diversion projects proceed.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in California was second on the list, and Little River in North Carolina and Cedar River in Iowa rounded out the top five.

The Little River is under threat because of a proposed new dam. But American Rivers said the project could be avoided by improved water-efficiency methods and the expansion of existing reservoirs.

In the Upper Delaware campaigners are trying to prevent gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a major source of natural gas that lies beneath the river's watershed.

This clean water source is threatened by natural gas extraction activities in the Marcellus Shale, where chemicals injected into the ground create untreatable toxic waste water," American Rivers said.

The group urged the Delaware River Basin Commission, an interstate regulator, to deny drilling permits to energy companies until it fully investigates whether a drilling technique called "fracking" poses a threat to the river's water.

American Rivers also wants Congress to pass legislation that would give the federal government oversight of the drilling industry, and require companies to meet requirements on disclosure of chemicals.

Other endangered rivers include the Upper Colorado River at No. 6, the Chetco River in southern Oregon, the Teton River in Idaho and the Coosa River in Alabama.

The Chetco, classified as a wild and scenic river, could be damaged by a strip mining plan that would use a damaging method of dredging, the report said. It called on federal regulators to ban mining in or near the river and allow Congress time to pass laws that would protect it.

The 10 rivers are selected according to the significance of the threat to human and natural communities, the degree to which the proposed action would exacerbate the effect of climate change, and if they are the focus of a major decision in the coming year that could determine their health.

Green Group Says Gas Drilling Threatens Delaware River

* 74-mile stretch is called most threatened U.S. river
* Blames regulator oversights for threats

June 2, 2010

Reuters - The rapid growth of drilling for natural gas threatens the health of the Upper Delaware River, the source of drinking water for some 17 million people, an environmental group said on Wednesday.

American Rivers named 74 miles (120 km) of the river that originates in New York State and flows along the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey as the most endangered in the United States because of the potential for contamination by chemicals used in a gas-drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

"This clean water source is threatened by natural gas extraction activities in the Marcellus Shale, where chemicals injected into the ground create untreatable toxic waste water," the group said in its annual report.

The Damascus Citizens for Sustainability anti-drilling group says tests have shown clean water in the Delaware River, except in one case where barium and some heavy metals were found near a test well.

Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) and Range Resources Corp (RRC.N) are among the companies using fracking to drill in Marcellus, a geologic formation that underlies about two-thirds of Pennsylvania and parts of surrounding states. Experts say it contains enough gas to satisfy total U.S. needs for a decade or more.

The Marcellus is one of the fastest-growing sites for gas drilling, and much of the activity so far has been in the western part of Pennsylvania, far from the Delaware River. However, energy companies are planning to expand drilling around the river basin.

American Rivers called on the Delaware River Basin Commission, an interstate regulator, to decline applications for gas drilling in its watershed until a study is completed on whether fracking is safe.

The group also urged Congress to pass legislation that would give the U.S. government oversight of the drilling industry.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a gas industry group, did not respond to an email request for comment.

REGULATION

On the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware watershed, the industry has won permission to drill some test wells. In neighboring New York State, exploitation of the Marcellus is on hold pending a regulatory review.

New York City has urged state regulators to block drilling in its watershed because of concern about possible contamination, while the city council in Philadelphia, near the southern end of the Delaware, has called for a ban on drilling until more is known about the effects of fracking.

Damascus Citizens for Sustainability spokesman Pat Carullo accused the Delaware River Basin Commission of failing in its duty when it allowed construction of test wells. He compared the commission with the federal Minerals Management Service, whose lax oversight has been blamed for contributing to the BP Plc (BP.L) oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

"DRBC has done exactly what MMS did," Carullo said.

Delaware River Basin Commission spokesman Clarke Rupert said he would not comment until he sees the full report.

Critics say fracking has contaminated private water wells with chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious illnesses. The industry contends its processes are safe and that there has never been a proven case of ground water contamination from fracking.

The American Rivers report also named the Monongahela in western Pennsylvania as among the 10 most endangered rivers, also because of local gas drilling.

Despite disaster, U.S. has little choice but to drill offshore
Globally, one in every 10 barrels of oil produced in 2030 will come from ultra-deepwater operations; roughly 70 percent of the deep water in the Gulf of Mexico remains unexplored. In 1990, the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico yielded about 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil. By 2009, that number had grown to 1 million, according to CERA. Nine projects that are coming onstream will add at least 200,000 barrels per day this year, said CERA researchers, who expect deepwater production to account for 17 percent of U.S. liquids production this year, which includes oil and natural gas. Today there are at least 42 active deepwater projects for exploration or production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico or international gulf waters, and at least another five projects in the works. Seventeen of those are ultra-deepwater. Deepwater drilling used to be considered depths around 1,000 feet below the sea surface, but it's now a range of about 1,500 feet to 5,000 feet. Anything 5,000 feet or more below the surface is described as ultra-deepwater ... Deepwater drilling began in earnest in the 1960s, pioneered in the North Sea. The Arab oil embargo of the 1970s gave a push to shallow water exploration and production along U.S. Gulf Coast states.
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