Delaware is urging other northeastern states to ensure that natural gas drilling does not endanger health or damage the environment before they allow gas development in the Delaware River Basin, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary (DNREC) Collin O’Mara said.
As a member of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), an interstate regulator charged with ensuring water quality in its area, Delaware has a voice in deciding whether to allow the natural gas industry to sink a projected 15,000 to 18,000 wells in the watershed that supplies drinking water to 15 million people.
The commission, consisting of representatives from Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the federal government, last year proposed that gas development should be allowed in the watershed – stretching from upstate New York to southern Delaware — subject to restrictions on operations including well siting and water-quality monitoring.
The panel’s final decision is expected in late fall after it considers the record 58,000 public comments it received on the issue during its consultation process early this year.
O’Mara, as the chief DRBC representative of Gov. Jack Markell, urged his fellow commissioners to consider all available information on the safety of gas extraction using the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing which injects millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground where high pressure and a series of explosions force open fissures in the gas-bearing shale.
“It’s more important to be right than fast,” O’Mara said in an interview with Delaware First Media. “These are decisions that will affect future generations.”
Critics of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, say it contaminates air and water with toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious illnesses. They argue that a growing number of people living near gas wells are being poisoned with chemicals including barium, arsenic and benzene, and that those victims are an indication of a wider public health emergency that will occur if the industry continues its current boom, as seen especially in Pennsylvania.
But the industry insists there has never been a proven case of water contamination from fracking. It says its chemicals and wastewater are insulated from aquifers by multiple layers of steel and concrete in drill casings, and that the toxic substances are released into the earth thousands of feet below drinking water supplies.
O’Mara said his voting record on the DRBC shows he has taken a cautious approach to the fracking debate. “I have insisted that regulations are in place before permits are issued,” he said. “We need to think through every possible consequence.”
He argued that the recession, followed by the current sluggish economy, has cut the growth in electricity demand and as a result, taken some pressure off the need to find alternative sources of power.
“There is time to do this right,” he said.
For residents of Delaware, there is less exposure to the downside of shale gas development than for Pennsylvanians and potentially for New Yorkers, if the state government there lifts a moratorium on the industry, O’Mara said.
He said there’s no prospect of any Delaware water treatment plant taking gas industry waste which may contain introduced chemicals together with naturally occurring substances such as arsenic, and some radioactive elements.
No Delaware water plant has the ability to treat water contaminated with heavy metals or radioactive substances, O’Mara said. “I don’t believe that legally anyone can accept it,” he said.
Any attempt to process drilling waste in Delaware would be complicated by uncertainty over exactly what’s in the fluid, given that gas companies are not legally required to make a full public disclosure of the chemicals they use in fracking.
Although some companies now publish lists of chemicals, there is still an overall lack of transparency about the process, O’Mara said. The industry has argued that full disclosure would put companies at a competitive disadvantage.
“I think we should have complete transparency in terms of what’s being injected into the ground,” he said.
Delaware’s exposure to drinking water contamination is also limited by its distance from any gas drilling that may take place in the river basin, O’Mara said.
Still, vast U.S. reserves of shale gas have huge potential benefits for energy security and emissions reduction if their development is properly controlled, and it’s incumbent on regulators like the DRBC to ensure that all industry players adhere to high environmental standards, he said.
Without a tough regulatory regime, some operators will inevitably cut corners. “Some folks will try the lowest-cost option and we could end up with a race to the bottom,” he said.
The secretary said he would be in favor of a cumulative impact study of the effects of gas drilling, as called for by some anti-drilling groups, but stopped short of saying he would withhold his approval for drilling to start unless such a study took place.
He also declined to say whether any DRBC go-ahead for the gas industry should wait until the outcome of a national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study on the safety of fracking, whose preliminary results are not expected until the end of 2012.
“I’m going to reserve judgment until I see the regulations,” he said.
O’Mara: ‘More important to be right than fast’ on gas drilling
Delaware is urging other northeastern states to ensure that natural gas drilling does not endanger health or damage the environment before they allow gas development in the Delaware River Basin, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary (DNREC) Collin O’Mara said.
As a member of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), an interstate regulator charged with ensuring water quality in its area, Delaware has a voice in deciding whether to allow the natural gas industry to sink a projected 15,000 to 18,000 wells in the watershed that supplies drinking water to 15 million people.
The commission, consisting of representatives from Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the federal government, last year proposed that gas development should be allowed in the watershed – stretching from upstate New York to southern Delaware — subject to restrictions on operations including well siting and water-quality monitoring.
The panel’s final decision is expected in late fall after it considers the record 58,000 public comments it received on the issue during its consultation process early this year.
O’Mara, as the chief DRBC representative of Gov. Jack Markell, urged his fellow commissioners to consider all available information on the safety of gas extraction using the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing which injects millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground where high pressure and a series of explosions force open fissures in the gas-bearing shale.
“It’s more important to be right than fast,” O’Mara said in an interview with Delaware First Media. “These are decisions that will affect future generations.”
Critics of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, say it contaminates air and water with toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious illnesses. They argue that a growing number of people living near gas wells are being poisoned with chemicals including barium, arsenic and benzene, and that those victims are an indication of a wider public health emergency that will occur if the industry continues its current boom, as seen especially in Pennsylvania.
But the industry insists there has never been a proven case of water contamination from fracking. It says its chemicals and wastewater are insulated from aquifers by multiple layers of steel and concrete in drill casings, and that the toxic substances are released into the earth thousands of feet below drinking water supplies.
O’Mara said his voting record on the DRBC shows he has taken a cautious approach to the fracking debate. “I have insisted that regulations are in place before permits are issued,” he said. “We need to think through every possible consequence.”
He argued that the recession, followed by the current sluggish economy, has cut the growth in electricity demand and as a result, taken some pressure off the need to find alternative sources of power.
“There is time to do this right,” he said.
For residents of Delaware, there is less exposure to the downside of shale gas development than for Pennsylvanians and potentially for New Yorkers, if the state government there lifts a moratorium on the industry, O’Mara said.
He said there’s no prospect of any Delaware water treatment plant taking gas industry waste which may contain introduced chemicals together with naturally occurring substances such as arsenic, and some radioactive elements.
No Delaware water plant has the ability to treat water contaminated with heavy metals or radioactive substances, O’Mara said. “I don’t believe that legally anyone can accept it,” he said.
Any attempt to process drilling waste in Delaware would be complicated by uncertainty over exactly what’s in the fluid, given that gas companies are not legally required to make a full public disclosure of the chemicals they use in fracking.
Although some companies now publish lists of chemicals, there is still an overall lack of transparency about the process, O’Mara said. The industry has argued that full disclosure would put companies at a competitive disadvantage.
“I think we should have complete transparency in terms of what’s being injected into the ground,” he said.
Delaware’s exposure to drinking water contamination is also limited by its distance from any gas drilling that may take place in the river basin, O’Mara said.
Still, vast U.S. reserves of shale gas have huge potential benefits for energy security and emissions reduction if their development is properly controlled, and it’s incumbent on regulators like the DRBC to ensure that all industry players adhere to high environmental standards, he said.
Without a tough regulatory regime, some operators will inevitably cut corners. “Some folks will try the lowest-cost option and we could end up with a race to the bottom,” he said.
The secretary said he would be in favor of a cumulative impact study of the effects of gas drilling, as called for by some anti-drilling groups, but stopped short of saying he would withhold his approval for drilling to start unless such a study took place.
He also declined to say whether any DRBC go-ahead for the gas industry should wait until the outcome of a national Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study on the safety of fracking, whose preliminary results are not expected until the end of 2012.
“I’m going to reserve judgment until I see the regulations,” he said.