CRESSON —
Citing concerns about the safety of water sources, three Mainline communities are looking at the possibility of banning drilling for natural gas or finding ways to significantly limit that activity.
While no official meetings on the matter have been held, officials are talking among themselves about an ordinance passed in October by Pittsburgh City Council that bans drilling into the Marcellus Shale bed.
Cresson and Washington townships and Cresson Borough are tossing the issue around, officials confirmed Friday.
“We’re going to look into it,” Washington Township Supervisor Ray Guzic said. “We’ve got to protect our water source up here – we owe the people that much.”
Washington Township’s mountains host wells for Lilly Borough’s water supply and Highland Sewer and Water Authority, which provides water to customers in the Cresson area.
The natural gas is in the Marcellus Shale bed that lies deep beneath two-thirds of Pennsylvania, including Cambria and Somerset counties.
The drilling and extensive underground fracturing used to extract the gas has caused some concerns, especially for those who think the drilling is expanding too quickly in the state.
Citing health and environmental concerns, Pittsburgh leaders in November adopted a resolution banning Marcellus drilling.
Just over 350 acres, or about 1 percent, of the land in Pittsburgh has been leased but no companies are drilling.
Washington and Portage townships are being looked at for two wells each, both near the north-south boundary that separates the municipalities.
Guzic said it appears that a lot of survey and preliminary work is going on in the area targeted for the wells.
“If they’re staking this out, they’re interested in it,” he said. “In the next few months we need to educate ourselves.”
Cresson Mayor Patrick Mulhern said his borough was provided with a copy of the Pittsburgh ordinance and council members are reviewing it.
“Whether it be people’s water wells or whatever, it’s a big concern,” Mul-hern said.
A copy of the ordinance was passed on to borough Solicitor C.J. Webb.
Pennsylvania historically has said that oil and gas drilling and associated activity are regulated by the state and the local municipalities can’t do anything, Webb said.
But he’s making no assumptions about what could happen with the Marcellus industry and regulations.
“The people that have land want to be able to put wells on it; the people with small areas of land want them regulated,” Webb said.
Part of the information being circulated to municipalities in the Marcellus Shale region is a resolution stating the governing body supports Pittsburgh’s initiative and would be part of any legal action to defend that initiative.
Cresson Township officials also are talking about some type of local action, Supervisor Gary Bradley said.
“We’ve talked among ourselves,” Bradley said Friday. “I think we’re going to hang back a little bit. I think we’ll follow the lead of other municipalities.”
Ben Price of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which drafted the Pittsburgh ordinance, expects the idea to spread.
“I think it has the potential to catch on,” Price said.
He urged local communities to be aware of their rights to govern and protect the health, welfare and safety of their community.
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Mainline municipalities mull Marcellus restrictions
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