Groups Urge Cuomo to Support for Full Fracking Ban in Delaware River Basin

For Immediate Release

Statewide environmental organizations are urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to back New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s call for a full ban on all fracking-related activities in the Delaware River basin.

On January 30, Governor Murphy released a letter to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) laying out his opposition to fracking as well as the storage, import, discharge, or treatment of fracking wastewater.

The DRBC is considering draft regulations on fracking in the Delaware River watershed, which is a critical source of clean drinking water for millions of people in the region. Murphy’s letter  recommends strengthening the final rules to block drilling and fracking wastewater.

“The only way to protect the clean drinking water from the Delaware River is by enacting a complete ban on all fracking-related activities in the basin,” said Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region director at Food & Water Watch. “Governor Cuomo stood up to the fossil fuel industry by banning fracking in New York. Now he can extend that ban and protect a drinking water source for millions in our state and the surrounding areas.”

The letter from New York environmental groups urges Governor Cuomo to adopt the same position that Governor Murphy has taken. As the groups write, “As the Trump Administration rolls back essential environmental regulations on the fossil fuel industry and as it fails to protect our drinking water, please do everything you can to protect our region’s precious water resources.”

The groups signing the letter include Food & Water Watch, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Environmental Advocates of New York, Riverkeeper, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).

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