NJ Fracking Ban Bill Passes Senate

Today the Senate passed S678 (Bateman) by a vote of 31-5. The bill prohibits treatment, discharge, disposal, application to roadway, or storage of wastewater, wastewater solids, sludge, drill cuttings or other byproducts from natural gas exploration or production using hydraulic fracturing.

“We need to block fracking in New Jersey but more importantly, we need to block it in the Delaware Basin first. This is because if we don’t, we’ll still be impacted by fracking waste from Pennsylvania and Delaware. We’re concerned that Governor Murphy has backed away from his commitment to fight fracking waste through the DRBC. Dumping fracking wastewater is dangerous because it contains over 600 different toxic chemicals, many of them carcinogenic. This could lead to pollution and contaminated drinking water,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This bill would help protect New Jersey but it would not completely stop the threats from fracking to the Delaware River and our drinking water supply.”

About one-third of the Delaware River system flows through shale formations. A de facto moratorium on fracking in the Delaware River Basin has been in place since 2010. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)—which consists of governors from the four states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—has released a proposed rule to ban fracking in the Delaware River watershed on the grounds that fracking exposes its waters to “significant, immediate, and long-term risks” and has set a schedule for public hearings and comments. As currently drafted, the rule has two loopholes: it does not ban the importation of wastewater from fracking operations located outside the basin, nor does it prohibit water withdrawals from the Delaware River and its tributaries for export and use in such operations.

“We need to block fracking in New Jersey but more importantly, we need Murphy to work with the DRBC to block it in the entire Basin. Fracking is a dangerous process that threatens drinking water and public health. In New Jersey, we’re more threatened with connecting fracking activities such as the dumping or treating of waste or using of water sources. This legislation would ban all activities related to fracking in our state. It would prevent fracking waste from being dumped on our land or in our water and help stop facilities to treat that waste from being built here,” said Jeff Tittel.

Fracking involves injecting huge amounts of water and chemicals in rock formations that can pollute surrounding aquifers and waterways. This requires mixing millions of gallons of water with toxic chemicals including volatile organic chemicals like benzene, methyl benzene, formaldehyde, and others that are linked to cancer. The toxins in frack waste have substantially harmful health and environmental effects. EPA even identified health concerns for 109 of 126 new chemicals proposed for drilling and fracking such as irritation to the eye, skin, and mucous membranes, kidney toxicity, liver toxicity, neurotoxicity, and developmental toxicity.

“Our main priority should be getting all fracking activities banned in the Basin through the DRBC and making sure Murphy keeps his commitment to do so. We can’t treat what we don’t know so this creates a hidden danger to communities exposed to fracking and fracking waste. The DRBC have a rule that would allow bringing in fracking waste, but it is critical that they fix the rule to ban fracking and fracking waste. We are calling on the DRBC to do their job and protect the Delaware Water River Basin,” said Jeff Tittel. “The DRBC must step up and protect the drinking water for tens of millions of people with a complete ban on fracking and dumping of fracking waste.”

The DRBC did pass a proposed fracking ban resolution, however; it contains dangerous language to allow fracking waste to be dumped and treated in the region, as well as taking water from the Basin for fracking. Instead, they must enact a full ban of fracking in the region that includes dumping fracking waste or allowing for facilities such as Elcon to be built.  This would have devastating effects on our side in New Jersey as well. The air and water pollution from this hazardous waste facility will come across the River right into our towns and communities.

“The Delaware River Basin Commission current proposal to ban fracking still allows fracking waste in the Delaware Basin, creating incentive for Elcon to be built. We could see the treated waste from the facility being dumped right on top of our drinking water sources. This could lead to pollution and contaminated drinking water.  The air and water pollution from this hazardous waste facility will come across the River right into our towns and communities. If there is a spill or a leak, our drinking water would be impacted for millions of people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The facility would directly threaten three different water supply intakes: Trenton, Delran, and Philadelphia,” said Tittel.

During his campaign Governor Murphy came out in support of a full ban but the Administration seems to be backing away from that lately. When questioned about a fracking ban, his staff didn’t provide an answer. The Governor even CVed a dangerous bill to allow DuPont to increase pollution dumping to make it stronger and better.  Sierra Club wanted a full veto, but at least Murphy required changes to improve the bill. Our concern is that this could lead to New Jersey facilities accepting fracking waste.

“We support this bill to ban fracking activities in New Jersey but unless there is a full ban throughout the Delaware Basin, we are still at risk. We need Governor Murphy and the rest of the DRBC to approve a full fracking ban that includes no dumping of fracking waste or taking of water for fracking purposes. The people of the Delaware River Valley want to be protected from all forms of fracking, including the contaminated waste that comes from it. Having a partial ban that actually allows the dumping of fracking waste still puts the drinking water and environment of the Basin at risk,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “There is overwhelming data on the damage and destruction fracking will do to our environment and our health. That is why it is critical that the DRBC approve a full fracking ban that includes no dumping of fracking waste or taking of water for fracking purposes.”