Pledge to Defend The Delaware River Frack Ban

Published by Damascus Citizens at August 5, 2025

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Physicians for Social Responsibility PA calls on the Delaware River Basin Commission to uphold the frack ban

DCS and the Delaware River Frack Ban Coalition Launch New Campaign – A Citizen’s Pledge to Defend the Delaware River Frack Ban

Just as New York declared a ban of high volume hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), because of health concerns related to fracking, and the DRBC about 6 years later also banned fracking in the Delaware Basin out of concern about damage to the resources DRBC exists to protect, we assure everyone that nothing has changed, that fracking is still a health hazard. Though being “done in two river basins” does not mean it is safe for human or environmental health – see The Concerned Health Professionals of NY Compendium.
– Barbara Arrindell, DCS Director

The Delaware River Basin and the Delaware River itself have been kept clean as a result of the DRBC’s strong watchdog actions. Fracking will destroy the Delaware River’s health just as it has the Susquehanna and the Ohio rivers. The value of the Delaware River both in economic and health terms must be maintained and we the citizens who value the Delaware River and its water are pledging to protect it for current and future generations. That there are Federal legislators and other special interests that want to frack the Delaware River Basin will be resisted by the citizens and the DRBC.

Here’s the pledge to protect the Delaware River Basin, to sign:

Click here to sign online.
Download the Pledge as a pdf, sign and drop off at the DCS Storefront (25 Main St., Narrowsburg, NY) or the DCS Office (The Narrowsburg Union, 7 Erie Ave., Narrowsburg, NY) or mail to DCS (PO Box 147, Milanville, PA 18443).

And let others know that they can sign, whether they are a resident, a taxpayer, a visitor, have a family or business interest, or even have a memory of the area. Everyone should sign, and tell others.

Make it Fun – Have a Signing Party!

The coalition will be presenting the signed pledges to the DRBC to show the support of the community for the health of the Delaware River Basin. The commission voters are the four basin state Governors, and a Federal component.

There was a previous pledge effort by the coalition that influenced the eventual ban of fracking in the Delaware River Basin in February of 2021. That there were so many thousands of people who signed up to pledge their support of the Delaware made a big impression on the Governors who are the voting members of the DRBC. Our goal this time is to have an even stronger representation of concern and of our strength in defending the Delaware River Basin and our health.

For more details, please see the Delaware River Climate and Frack Ban Coalition Press Release.

Delaware River Watershed – Organizations announced that they are rallying to protect the Delaware River Watershed against all attackers of its communities and environment. The groups, many of whom are in the long-running Delaware River Frack Ban and Climate Action Coalition, have vowed – through the adoption of a Pledge of Resistance and Protection – to resist all hostile attempts to overtake the Delaware River Watershed. The Pledge is being signed by people who will take action as needed to carry it out.

According to the Coalition, recent moves by federal legislators have revealed an effort by fracking and other special interests to overturn the Delaware River Basin Commission’s ban on fracking. This would interfere with fair and equitable watershed governance and protection performed by the Commission.

Recent attempts at strong-arm tactics by federal government officials include a closed-door meeting between officials and pro-fracking interests in Wayne County, as well as a resolution from the federal representative to the DRBC to eliminate funding for DEI and climate initiatives, as detailed below:

Closed-door meeting between EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin, Representative Bresnahan and pro-fracking interests in Wayne County:

In March, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin traveled to the Upper Delaware to meet with Representative Bresnahan and, according to a news account, “local pro-fracking industry figures, advocates and elected officials”. News articles reported that they talked about the need to develop the natural gas resources in the Delaware River Basin and unleash “energy dominance”. Congressman Bresnahan’s office issued a press release documenting the discussion and who attended the meeting. During a subsequent telephonic town hall, Representative Bresnahan doubled down, saying he expected support from the EPA to “…help get our gas rights back…” and to capitalize “…on energy under our feet” and “…natural gas extraction.” He also stated, “I’m committed to reigning in bureaucratic groups like the DRBC.” The DRBC was not invited and did not attend the meeting.

“The misuse of power demonstrated by Congressman Bresnahan, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and others in the federal administration to interfere with the authority and independence of the DRBC, and to do so in a way that strips states of their equitable power to protect the River essential to all of our lives, is reprehensible. But we the people of the Delaware River watershed will use our democratic and constitutional rights to defend our River and region. We will not be intimidated into silence or acquiescence,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

This petition is brought to you by the Delaware River Frack Ban and Climate Coalition, whose members are: