Upper Delaware is most threatened, American Rivers says

Environmental Leader: American Rivers on June 2 released America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ of 2010. The 25th anniversary edition of the report spotlights 10 rivers facing the most urgent threats, and also features key endangered river success stories from the past two decades.

The No.1 river on the list is the Upper Delaware, where gas drilling threatens the drinking water for 17 million people across New York and Pennsylvania. Rivers are selected based upon the following criteria:

• a major decision (that the public can help influence) in the coming year on the proposed action,
• the significance of the threat to human and natural communities,
• the degree to which the proposed action would exacerbate or alleviate stresses caused by climate change.

Upper Delaware River….This clean water source is threatened by natural gas extraction activities in the Marcellus Shale, where chemicals are injected into the ground creating untreatable toxic wastewater. The Delaware River Basin Commission must not issue permits for gas drilling in this watershed until a thorough study of impacts is completed. Congress must also pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009….

Double Bows.jpgRainbows and departing storm clouds, Minsi Lake, part of the Delaware River system. It's located in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Shot by Nicholas, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license