Environmental groups in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York Thursday called for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to undertake a comprehensive study of environmental impacts from shale gas operations on the water quality of the Susquehanna River Basin.

“The Susquehanna River is a life-sustaining resource for millions of people across Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland," said Joanne  Kilgour, Director of the Sierra Club PA Chapter. ”Gov. Corbett has an opportunity and a responsibility to ensure the security of this vital resource by requiring a study of the effects of shale gas operations across the Basin,” Kilgour continued.

The Susquehanna River, which winds its way through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, is the source of drinking water to more than six million people, provides recreation opportunities to visitors, and supports natural environments for wildlife from bald eagles to river otters. Unfortunately, in 2011 American Rivers named the Susquehanna the nation’s most endangered river because of the  risks posed by gas development.

“The number of families who have already had their drinking water contaminated by fracking companies in Pennsylvania continues to grow, so we see this as a human rights issue as well as an environmental issue,” said Iris Marie Bloom, executive director of Protecting Our Waters. “Pennsylvania should have instituted a moratorium after the very first fish kill caused by fracking waste; the first calves stillborn, the first child with abdominal pain, the first adult with nosebleeds from compressor stations. Instead we don’t even have a study of gas drilling impacts in the irreplaceable Susquehanna River Basin; this is absurd!”

All the groups in the SOS Susquehanna Alliance agree that continuing to permit significant water withdrawals for shale gas operations  without first assessing all the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to the River Basin is irresponsible, and undermines the value of the Susquehanna River.

The groups taking part in the event from Pennsylvania included: The Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper; Sierra Club/Pennsylvania Chapter; Clean Water Action/Pennsylvania; PennEnvironment; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future; PA League of Women Voters; Berks Gas Truth; and Protecting Our Waters.

6/9/2014