Water for gas drilling hearing draws a crowd

Some 200 persons appeared at a Wednesday public hearing in Matamoras for a plan to draw Lackawaxen River water for a hydraulic fracturing “fracking” gas drilling project in Wayne County. Some of those in attendance came from as far away as Philadelphia to protest at the Delaware River Basin Commission hearing. Most of those on hand were in opposition, but a minority opinion came from a man who said he would like to see more water being drawn from the Delaware River during high water times and stored to be used during low water times for natural gas drilling. David Jones said many industries take water from the river and the region “needs hydro-fracturing.” He claims New York City wastes over 100,000,000 gallons of water daily and that hydro-fracturing uses less water than it takes to fill an Olympic size swimming pool. Written comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. on March 12, 2010. Visit http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/notice_stoneenergycorp020910.htm for more information,