A multi-course serving of Delaware River news

Before anything else, I need to stop a moment to pause and reflect on the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 — 24 years ago — which left nearly 3,000 people dead in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa.

Despite all those deaths, sectarian tragedies continue. We need more than thoughts and prayers.

On to Delaware River news.

As you might have already read, the Delaware River Basin Commission extended its approval of the Dock 2 project at the Gibbstown Logistics Center in Gloucester County in New Jersey.

Here’s the story.

But a consideration. It is almost impossible to be environmentally aware and not be opposed to the grand plan that this port is part of, one leg of a longstanding three-legged project to process liquefied natural gas from the Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania and ship it overseas. 

LNG is dangerously explosive and this plan called for it be shipped over land (endangering communities along the way) and loaded onto ships at this port and sent overseas to make money for the plan’s ultimate benefactor, New Fortress Energy.

But the vote is more complicated than just “DRBC caving to industry pressure.” I am not sure whether any of the commissioners are actually in support of the whole project, likely more of them are than I am comfortable with, but the vote was only about the one aspect of the project that the DRBC can weigh in on.

Remember the DRBC is all about water quality and quantity and not authorized to act on questions of what the ports do or what ships may carry on the river.

Many of those who spoke against the plan in the public comments section of the meeting on Wednesday were understandably outraged at the whole project and would love to see someone — anyone — put a stop to it.

But that’s likely not the DRBC. Even if it did vote not to extend its previous resolution, there would be a lawsuit that would drain the DRBC of time and money versus the inexhaustible supply of both provided by the oil and gas industry, and likely the same result would come to pass.

Maybe such a stalling action would quell our outrage at all the reversals that the environment has suffered and will suffer under this administration, but then again, might it not be better for the DRBC to spend its own scarce resources on the science that will give us better ways to sustain clean and abundant water for the future?

Just asking…

Other stories, and my, there’s a lot of them since we took a break last week.

Kyle Bagenstose wrote about growing concerns about water and power demands as data centers boom in the Delaware River watershed.

We welcome back Andrew Lewis, who told us about the ongoing cleanup of World War II radioactive material from the former DuPont Chambers Works in Deepwater, N.J.

Chris Mele brought us the latest in the ongoing battle to increase dissolved oxygen and improve water quality in the urban area of the basin, with water operators appealing to the Trump administration for a reprieve from water quality improvement rules.

We ran a story to give some context about the possibility of a liquified gas terminal in Chester, Pa., from our friends at https://insideclimatenews.org/ written by Nina Sablan. We’ve covered this issue before and it seemed to be off the table — but the tables have turned.

A new freelancer, Kristine Villanueva, has written about South Korea’s plans to increase investment in Philadelphia shipyards by $5 billion.

We’re thrilled that Kristine has come out from behind the curtain — she’s been helping us with our social media and doing a bang-up job!!

Isabella Darcy has written about a second dam on the Brandywine being removed, a trend that’s really gained speed over the past five years.

And when I’ve given you a 14-course dinner, we need a little light refreshment for dessert.

Fabulous photos (and story) from Preston Ehler about the cardboard boat racers on the  Delaware River in Port Jervis, N.Y. For them, it was sink or win.

Hope you find this all illuminating.

Thanks for reading.