Citing strict permit requirements, Chesapeake Appalachia revoked an application with the Delaware River Basin Commission on Tuesday that would have allowed the natural-gas operator to withdraw up to one-million gallons of water per day from the West Branch of the Delaware River.
Earlier this year, the company sought the water-withdrawal permit, an operation that was to be located on a private property in Buckingham Township, in order to move ahead with its plan to drill for natural gas in Wayne County and the Delaware River Basin.
Water is a critical element to busting open underground shale formations where natural gas resides, particularly in the Marcellus Shale. A typical Marcellus Shale operation needs to inject an average of five-million gallons of water, per well, to successfully extract natural gas and ensure a long-production period.
This was the only permit the West Virginia-based company had requested from the commission, a multi-state board that regulates water quality and quantity in the sprawling 13,539-square mile Delaware River Basin which includes most of Wayne County.
The company has secured rights, through many leasing agreements with landowners, to explore and drill for natural gas in Wayne County. That will not happen until the company receives commission approval for not only water, but also to permit individual natural-gas wells, among other concerns.
After a divisive public hearing centered on the water-withdrawal permit in July, the commission strengthened some of the requirements that Chesapeake Appalachia had to abide by including provisions that would have required the company to treat the water it took from the Delaware River to prevent the spread of invasive species, and also raising the bar for how much water must flow by at the withdrawal point.
“In light of the limitations proposed for the project and the comments provided by various parties, we have decided to withdraw the application and reassess our approach to the situation,” said a company director in a letter to the commission on Tuesday. “We believe this is preferable to continuing with hearings and further public debate about the project at this time.”
The commission received an estimated 1,200 written comments about the permit, along with petitions submitted by environmental organizations and government agencies, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service included.
The government agencies submitted proposals - some of which were integrated into a more stringent second version of the permit developed after the July public hearing - that focused on protecting aquatic wildlife in the Delaware River.
A public hearing scheduled for that permit in September was canceled, after the natural-gas operator cited that it did not have “adequate time to review the changes” in the second, revised permit.
The company also had to agree to measures such as repairing or replacing any private well or surface-water supply that was negatively impacted through its water-withdrawal actions and additionally install a security camera at the Buckingham Township site.
Stone Energy Corp., of Louisiana, has also submitted a water-withdrawal permit for the West Branch of the Lackawaxen River in Mount Pleasant Township.
The commission has yet to rule on it. The commission, along with the state Department of Environmental Protection, are the only regulators of the natural-gas industry in Wayne County.