Drilling puts Susquehanna atop group's at-risk rivers list

HARRISBURG - A Pennsylvania river again tops an annual list of "most endangered rivers," with a national advocacy group saying natural gas drilling and the resulting wastewater have put the Susquehanna River at risk.

While two state waterways listed by American Rivers last year are no longer on the list, the group says the Monongahela and the Delaware both continue to face threats from the state's rapid growth in drilling activity.

The Susquehanna, which flows through the state's drilling-heavy northern tier, is one of two rivers on the list connected with gas-drilling impacts. The other is the Hoback River in Wyoming, another spot where drillers use hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to release shale gas.

But it was Marcellus Shale drilling that again was a concern for the advocacy group.

"We could have a top-10 list where all 10 were in the Marcellus Shale," said Jessie Thomas-Blate, who coordinates the group's effort, now in its 27th year, to identify endangered rivers.

The report, due to be published Tuesday, is the latest push from environmental groups seeking to update the state's Oil and Gas Act. Dozens of changes, such as wider buffers around gas wells and requiring companies to share pipelines, were suggested last week by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

Some legislation has been introduced to beef up protections, but changes are not likely to take place until after the governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission completes its report in July.

American Rivers and the state Sierra Club have called for a moratorium on fracking along the Susquehanna "until better protections are in place."