SRBC is taking written comments on proposed water withdrawals for gas drilling until September 4.

Credit: Meander

Key Points

1. The SRBC has allowed gas drilling to accelerate across the Susquehanna Basin even though gas companies use a lot of water, produce large amounts of wastewater, and pose a high risk of spills and contamination to waterways and aquatic life.

2. The Commission continues to consider and approve water withdrawal permits for gas companies one-by-one, without strong environmental protections in place or assessing the impacts of expanded gas drilling in many waterways over time.

3. The Commission shouldn’t issue any water withdrawal permits for gas operations until it conducts a science-based water resource management study. It must seize the opportunity to do so during the revision of the SRBC Comprehensive Plan in 2013.

4. Such a study is particularly important because—with the Susquehanna providing half of the freshwater that flows into the Chesapeake Bay—all member states have to meet a federal requirement (known as the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, rule) to reduce pollution flowing downstream, including sediment runoff due from gas operations.

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For more information:

• Earthworks Saving the Susquehanna from Drilling
  
• Earthworks The Susquehanna River Basin Commission