We're launching a new feature on the Watershed Post today: Letters to the Editor, which will appear as their own menu item on our menu bar above. Our first letter is from Ron Urban, who wrote us in response to a looming deadline facing the Delaware River Basin Commission from the New York Attorney General. (More about that here.)
If you'd like to submit a letter to the editor, email us at editor@watershedpost.com with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. -- Julia Reischel
New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has promised to sue the federal government if the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) won't conduct a full environmental impact review of its proposed gas drilling regulations by May 18.
As an angler who fishes on the Delaware River, one of the best trout fisheries in the East, I fully support the Attorney General's position. Not only is the river a prized recreational resource, the Delaware provides drinking water for 15 million people in three states. It also plays a critical role in the local economy by supporting many recreational-related jobs in the region.
As drilling in the Marcellus Shale region becomes imminent, the DRBC has ignored repeated calls to conduct a cumulative impact study of the water withdrawals, wastewater and development of thousands of wells in the basin. But the DRBC cannot ignore its obligation to comply the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) —a law designed to ensure that cumulative environmental impacts are considered when agencies make decisions.
The DRBC must fully review how water resources -- and the fish, wildlife and communities that rely upon them -- will be affected before allowing drilling to happen. Only then can strong regulations that protect these irreplaceable resources from the effects of gas drilling be enacted. The stakes are simply too high.
Ron Urban, National Leadership Committeeman, NY Trout Unlimited
