Gas Drilling Moratorium for Bucks, Montgomery Counties

[grntuscarora]

Companies that want to drill for natural gas in Bucks or Montgomery counties will have to wait.

State lawmakers on Saturday night approved a moratorium on gas drilling in Bucks, MontCo and parts of Lehigh, Berks and Chester counties. The moratorium will affect any oil or gas operations in the South Newark Basin, which underlies a swath of territory extending from Bucks through MontCo and into Berks County.

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"This legislation makes good on my promise that Act 13 was not intended to apply to Bucks County," State Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-10, said in a statement.

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But while the moratorium exempts Bucks and the other areas in the South Newark Basin from drilling for now, other parts of the state still must comply with Act 13. Some characterized it as a move by legislators in a wealthy part of the state to protect their backyards, while leaving other Pennsylvanians unprotected.

"Where was our study? Where was our six years?" Democratic Rep. Jesse White was quoted as saying in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "What makes Bucks and Montgomery [counties] so special?"


complete article at http://limerick.patch.com/articles/legislators-pass-moratorium-on-gas-drilling-in-bucks-montco


A drilling moratorium til 2018. Some counties are special, I guess.

[malthaussen]

1. Naw, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with money

These people are so blatent, it turns my stomach. But since I live in Montco, I'll take it.

-- Mal

[enough]

2. I guess you're right. What a way to make legislation.

It's sickening to me, even though I live in the area supposedly under the new moratorium. What hypocrisy. They knew that if the wealthier areas got wind of the fact that they were going to be treated as sacrifice zones (just like the rest of the state) there would be hell to pay.

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But while the moratorium exempts Bucks and the other areas in the South Newark Basin from drilling for now, other parts of the state still must comply with Act 13. Some characterized it as a move by legislators in a wealthy part of the state to protect their backyards, while leaving other Pennsylvanians unprotected.

"Where was our study? Where was our six years?" Democratic Rep. Jesse White was quoted as saying in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "What makes Bucks and Montgomery [counties] so special?"

White represents part of Washington County, on the far western Pennsylvania border, an area that hosts "a significant amount of Marcellus Shale drilling," according to the Pittsburgh newspaper.

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[grntuscarora]

3. I'm happy for you folks.

I grew up in Bucks County, and wouldn't ever wish it to be fracked.

But I also admit to some bitterness. This morning I feel like I live in a throw-away part of the state.

Here's hoping Act 13 is tossed out in court....

[enough]

4. Leaders of state and local environmental groups spoke out against the exemption.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/palisades/legislature-to-vote-today-on-gas-drilling-moratorium-for-bucks/article_5ece9717-8d8e-5e87-ae87-2737c134a187.html

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Leaders of state and local environmental groups spoke out against the exemption earlier in the day. "They should either exempt all counties from Act 13 and not just try to get special treatment from Sen. McIlhinney's core area, or repeal the law entirely," said David Meiser, chairman of the Bucks County Sierra Club.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network Deputy Director Tracy Carluccio said the provision was "outrageous." "This really smacks of cronyism and self-preservation in order to protect a few elite areas in this state that have more power than others," she said.

"This is absolutely wrong. This kind of favoritism where a legislator thinks he can protect himself and his turf at the expense of everybody else is what people cannot tolerate and what they complain about in politics today. We should be making decisions about gas drilling based on sound public policy — not based on what some legislator thinks he can slip in in order to save his own neck."

McIlhinney said he doesn't understand the push-back from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and other environmental groups. "They don't want (the provision) because they want a whole statewide moratorium," he said. "I don't think I can get enough votes together to now just put a moratorium across the entire Marcellus Shale."

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