Support the Safe and Healthy Delaware River Petition

Your voice is needed to make the Delaware River cleaner and safer!  We invite everyone who lives within the Delaware River Watershed to sign a letter of support for the Safe and Healthy Delaware River Petition, which Clean Air Council and its partners submitted to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) on March 2, 2020. This petition asks DRBC to upgrade the regulatory status for the portion of the Delaware River from Philadelphia and Camden to Chester Township (Delaware County, PA). This upgrade will protect the health and safety of those who enjoy recreation activities on this stretch of the river. 

Today, people participate in activities on the Delaware River along Philadelphia, Camden and upper Delaware County in many ways that bring them into direct contact with the water, which is known as “primary contact” recreation. This can include canoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, water skiing, wakeboarding and jet skiing. However, the existing regulations for the river only protect “secondary contact” recreation, which means that water quality only needs to be good enough for activities that involve limited contact with the water, such as fishing from the shoreline. As a result, the current water quality standards, which establish limits for concentrations of harmful bacteria, such as fecal coliform and enterococcus, are inadequate for protecting the health and safety of individuals, children and families who already enjoy “primary contact” recreation activities on this stretch of the river. 

This petition calls upon DRBC and its member states to conform with the Clean Water Act, which mandates that the standards for the river appropriately protect people already using the river for primary contact recreational activities. This upgrade will ensure that the river is adequately protected for current and future generations.  

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Commissioners

Delaware River Basin Commission

PO Box 7360

West Trenton, NJ 08628

Re: Support for the Petition to Upgrade the Lower Delaware River to Primary Contact Recreation 

Dear Commissioners:

On March 2, 2020, the Delaware River Basin Commission received a petition supported by organizations from across our watershed and region requesting that it upgrade the designated use of  Zone 3 and River Miles 95.0 to 81.8 of Zone 4 of the Delaware Estuary to include primary contact recreation. I support this Petition and urge the Commission to upgrade the protective status of the Delaware River as requested.

As the petition shows, this section of the lower Delaware River is already being used by residents for primary contact recreation activities that bring people in direct contact with the water – things like waterskiing, wakeboarding, jet skiing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle-boarding, snorkeling, and swimming. Additionally, numerous organizations, including educational, cultural institutions, and environmental groups, regularly host primary contact recreational programming in this section of the river.  

The Commission has a legal duty to protect people using the river for contact recreation. Recognizing the existing use of primary contact recreation will ensure that the Commission and member states prioritize developing and enforcing the water quality standards essential for those who are already enjoying these sections of the River for primary contact recreation.

I therefore urge the Commission to upgrade the Delaware River as requested in the March 2, 2020 Petition