Upper Delaware River named 'most endangered'

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - June 2, 2010

American Rivers says the Upper Delaware is threatened by plans to drill for natural gas. Energy companies have leased thousands of acres of land in the Delaware watershed in hopes of tapping vast stores of gas in the Marcellus shale rock formation.

The Washington, D.C.-based group says a drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" threatens water supplies. The Upper Delaware supplies drinking water to more than 15 million people in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The drilling industry says fracking is safe.

The Delaware River Basin Commission announced last month it is drafting regulations for gas drilling in shale formations and will not approve any projects until the new rules are established.

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