Spotlight On: Marcellus Shale Webinar
Thursday, May 7th, 2009Molly de Aguiar, Program Associate
Roughly 15 million people in New York and Pennsylvania get their daily supply of drinking water from the clear streams of the Catskill Mountains and Delaware River watersheds. These watersheds are now being targeted for industrial gas drilling.
Specifically, gas companies have zeroed in on the Marcellus Shale, which is a vast natural gas reserve about 6,000 to 8,000 feet below the earth’s surface, and it covers more than 48,000 square feet, from West Virginia to Ohio, through Pennsylvania and into New York. With the promise of big royalties, landowners have been increasingly signing over drilling rights on their properties.
If you are a concerned citizen, funder, or a member of a nonprofit who wants to learn more about this “natural gas rush,” please visit our website to view the webinar, hosted by Dodge and the New York Community Trust, and presented by Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Riverkeeper, Inc., who are working around the clock to ensure that industrial gas drilling does not threaten the critical water resources of New York, Pennsylvania and downstream water users in the Delaware River Watershed.
The Marcellus Shale formation covers large swaths of New York and Pennsylvania, and the push for natural gas drilling has potentially disastrous consequences for the area’s water supply, including New York City’s major drinking water supply, among other possible damage to the environment.