Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

October 28, 2010

Harveys Lake sets 1-year drilling delay

EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent

HARVEYS LAKE – Borough council voted Tuesday night to support a one-year moratorium against gas drilling in Pennsylvania in the hope that regulations will have time to catch up with the industry.

The move was an effort by residents and the council to protect the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania from adverse affects from the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling industry.

Borough residents have expressed concerns about what impact nearby gas drilling operations would have on the body of water popular with skiers, fishermen and boaters.

Contacted Wednesday, resident Michelle Boice, who has been outspoken on what she sees as the dangers of gas drilling, said she was thrilled to hear the motion passed to support a moratorium.

She said she has approached the Harveys Lake Protective Society to help make residents aware of the potential environmental and health problems that have resulted from natural gas drilling in other states.

She has asked residents to push council to make the decision for a moratorium. She now wants to see the council make an ordinance to prohibit “fracking,” the hydraulic fracturing the industry uses in which water, sand and chemicals are forced into the shale formation to free the natural gas.

“They often say they cannot because they could be sued,” she said about the fracking prohibition. “Be sued or be sick is my motto.”

Earlier this year some residents requested that council follow Pittsburgh, which had approved a “will of council” in support of proposed legislation introduced by a state senator that would impose a one-year moratorium on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region.

In July, state Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, suggested council meet with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish Commission to see if a one-year moratorium is allowable.

Boback in July read from a letter she sent to DEP Secretary John Hanger that stated the agency should consider imposing a one-year moratorium in Harveys Lake Borough to slow down gas drilling.

Council also approved a motion to accept bids for the sale of a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser. Bids will be reviewed during the October meeting.

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