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Delaware Currents: Federal Judge Dismisses Wayne County Land & Mineral Group Lawsuit Against Delaware River Basin Commission Over Fracking Ban

By Chris Mele, Delaware Currents

This article first appeared in the Delaware Currents on February 28, 2025--

A federal court judge has dismissed a nearly 9-year-old challenge to the Delaware River Basin Commission’s ban on fracking in the Delaware River watershed that was brought by a group of Pennsylvania landowners, ruling that their suit is moot.

The door that might have once been open to submit fracking plans for the DRBC’s review and approval has since been permanently closed given that the Commission adopted final regulations in 2021 that ban fracking basin-wide, the judge ruled.

The ban extended to the entire watershed, which covers parts of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, but particularly affected Pennsylvania counties that are home to the nation’s largest gas field in the Marcellus Shale formation.

When the landowners, Wayne Land and Mineral Group, first went to court in 2016, the DRBC was still mulling fracking regulations in the watershed.

The Commission said at the time that it would not consider any applications for wells or drilling until it had adopted final rules governing fracking.

The land group described the DRBC’s position at the time as a “de facto moratorium” that would hurt it financially, according to court records.

The then-moratorium paused fracking in the watershed, the process of using high-volume hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from underground rock formations.

In its complaint, the landowners group maintained that the DRBC lacked jurisdiction to require a permit for construction of a well pad and fracking-related facilities and that it should be allowed to drill without applying to the DRBC for a permit.

The group owns about 180 acres with deposits of natural gas and minerals in Wayne County, Pa., with about 75 acres of that land in the Delaware River Basin, according to court records.

After years of deliberations, the DRBC’s commissioners finally voted four years ago to amend the commission’s Comprehensive Plan and Water Code to prohibit high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin as a way to “control future pollution, protect the public health and preserve the waters of the basin,” the Commission said at the time.

The ban was hailed by environmental activists as a victory to protect the watershed against a practice that they said could introduce harmful fracking chemicals into the Delaware River water system, disrupt ecosystems, contribute to stormwater runoff and negatively affect communities’ quality of life.

Advocates of fracking saw the ban as a governmental overreach and argued it would curb economic benefits and energy exports.

In a related follow-up to the fracking ban, the Commission in late 2022 tightened rules for Delaware River water to be exported for fracking and the importation of fracked wastewater.

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NewsClip:

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Federal Judge Tosses Landowner Lawsuit Against Delaware River Basin Commission For Fracking Ban [PDF of Article]

Resource Links - DRBC Lawsuits:

-- PA Senate Republican Caucus Files Lawsuit Against Delaware River Basin Commission Over Shale Gas Drilling Moratorium [PaEN]

-- 16 Members Of PA Senate Democratic Caucus Filed Motion To Intervene In PA Senate Republican Caucus Legal Challenge To Delaware River Basin Commission Natural Gas Fracking Ban [PaEN]

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Files To Intervene In PA Senate Republican Lawsuit To Overturn Moratorium On Drilling In Delaware River Watershed [PaEN]

-- Federal Court Hears Senate Republican Caucus Appeal For Standing In Challenge To Delaware River Basin Commission Ban On Fracking [PaEN]

-- Federal Judge Rules Wayne County Landowners' Lawsuit Over Delaware River Basin Commission Drilling Moratorium Will Continue [PaEN]

-- House Committee OKs Bill To Compensate Landowners For Drilling Rights If DRBC Adopts Fracking Ban; Cost A Minimum Of $10 Billion [PaEN]

Related Article - DRBC:

-- Delaware River Basin Commission Climate Resilience Plan Public Input Sessions Scheduled Thru June [PaEN]