Murrysville's proposed natural gas drilling ordinance on website for review
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After three-plus months of work, a proposed ordinance that would regulate future deep-well drilling in Murrysville is ready for review.
The community's Marcellus Shale task force presented the document last week in council chambers for public review. It will help to regulate drillers as they look to extract natural gas.
The 33-page document may be viewed on the municipal website, www.murrysville.com.
Council President Joan Kearns, a task force member, said the ordinance draft was developed over many meetings and long discussions.
"We worked very diligently on this item," she said. "We know that the gas companies are coming here and they are going to drill. We wanted to do what we could to protect our residents as best we can."
Representatives from Range Resources, a natural gas company with a local office in Canonsburg, hosted a large-scale information session this spring in the Franklin Regional High School auditorium about their plans to drill for gas in the Murrysville area.
That public session touched off a series of informational hearings with local professionals well versed in Marcellus Shale drilling, along with environmentalists and people who live around similar wells in Washington County. Those sessions were geared toward informing Murrysville area residents about issues that could arise when drilling companies arrive.
"There is really nothing we can do to keep them from coming in and drilling," said Ms. Kearns. "We are going to have to learn to live with this activity. The best we could do is protect our community from some of the environmental and other issues that may come up."
The drafted ordinance touches upon issues such as noise, impact on roads and traffic, effects on local water supplies and use of retention ponds that contain waste water.
The ordinance also stipulates that gas companies are responsible for any damage created to local roads via heavy equipment, storing and eliminating waste water, protecting fresh water wells and mitigating elevated noise levels created by drilling activity.
Ms. Kearns said the committee studied similar Marcellus Shale ordinances drafted by other communities.
"We carefully calibrated our ordinance and used items that we believed would best fit our community," she added.
The drafted ordinance must pass muster with municipal council and the planning commission before it becomes official.
The ordinance could be approved this month.
First Published October 7, 2010 12:00 am
