Gas Drilling Moratorium for Bucks, Montgomery Counties [View all]
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.
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