With its shaded picnic groves, lush lawns and many athletic facilities, Scott Park has often been referred to as the jewel of the township.

Now, however, it's possible that the 30-acre park on Lindsay Road could become known for another reason -- a vital source of natural gas.

Pat Martin, of Center Street, brought up the question of drilling for natural gas at the park Sept. 23. She told the commissioners that she heard state Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, mention the possibility at a recent meeting in Glendale.

Residents, whose taxes pay for the park's upkeep, could benefit from such a supply, possibly either in the form of reduced taxes or free natural gas.

Scott Manager Denise Fitzgerald didn't hear Mr. Murphy's remarks, but was familiar with the concept. The drilling companies would lease the park and the township would reap some of the revenues from the royalties from the extracted natural gas, she said.

"I would want to make sure [the drilling] would not tear up the park," she said in a phone interview Monday.

But Ms. Fitzgerald, who said she has already been contacted by one drilling company, said it is her understanding that the park would not be adversely affected or even shut down to retrieve the natural gas.

However, she said she doesn't know for sure if the park contains natural gas. That would be determined by exploratory drilling.

Based on recent U. S. Geological Survey maps, it seems likely that Scott Park, situated on hilly terrain, harbors natural gas because much of Pennsylvania is part of a massive Marcellus shale rock formation that extends also into New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.

The rock, which consists primarily of flat formation, was made from shallow sea material found 350 million years ago during the Devonian period of the Paleozoic era.

The retrieval of natural gas reserves from Marcellus shale has already begun at locations in nearby Washington County.

Ms. Fitzgerald plans to send material about Marcellus shale natural gas retrieval to the commissioners, who last week asked her to look into the matter.