Upper Delaware named Most Endangered American River

American Rivers named the Upper Delaware the #1 Most Endangered River in 2010: "The Upper Delaware River provides drinking water for 17 million people across Pennsylvania and New York. However, this clean water source is threatened by natural gas extraction activities in the Marcellus Shale, where chemicals injected into the ground create untreatable toxic wastewater. Until a thorough study of these critical impacts is completed, the Delaware River Basin Commission must not issue permits that will allow gas drilling in this watershed. In addition, Congress must pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009 to help protect all rivers within the Marcellus Shale region." [Read more.]

Marcellus shale natural gas extraction

Radio Times WHYY, October 15, 2009: "Hour 1: The Marcellus Shale formation lies beneath much of Pennsylvania, and it's where energy companies expect to find a motherlode of natural gas. But the process and politics of removing it also extracts a cascade of questions. Joining us to help understand the issues are Abrahm Lustgarten, investigative reporter with ProPublica.org; extraction industry spokesman Lee Fuller of EnergyInDepth.org; and David Masur of the advocacy group PennEnvironment."