Hazle Twp. residents attempt to curtail shale exploration
http://citizensvoice.com/news/hazle-twp-residents-attempt-to-curtail-shale-exploration-1.939777
Hazle Twp. residents attempt to curtail shale exploration
BY SAM GALSKI (STAFF WRITER)
Published: August 11, 2010
Hazle Township has become the second Hazleton area community to receive a petition opposing Marcellus Shale gas drilling in residential neighborhoods.
Township Solicitor Charles Pedri announced Monday the township received a petition signed by a handful of residents who oppose Marcellus Shale drilling in or under residential sections of the community. Pedri also announced plans for potentially changing the zoning ordinance and placing certain restrictions on drilling operations.
“We want to do it as sort of a preventative measure,” he said.
To date, the township has not received a formal request from gas companies and Pedri said he isn’t sure if any areas of the township have conditions suitable for drilling.
A copy of the petition available at the Commons Building on Monday contained eight signatures, with most from residents on Garrison Road and Palance Avenue in Scotch Hill Estates.
Although the petitioners say they do not oppose drilling operations in other parts of Pennsylvania, they oppose drilling in residential areas of Hazle Township where residents receive water from on-site wells.
“We respectfully ask the supervisors to immediately begin to draft changes to the township zoning ordinance that will prevent a BP-type cataclysm from occurring in our township,” the petition reads. “There are areas of the township that can be utilized for drilling, but small lot size landowners should not have to risk losing everything to a contamination or spill from Marcellus Shale gas drilling.”
The three-page petition cites various reports about drilling violations, water quality and property concerns resulting from gas drilling operations – and calls on township officials to protect wells and aquifers.
“Again, it is not the intent of this petition to stop Marcellus Shale gas drilling or to prevent residents from signing gas leases, but simply to do what Harrisburg can’t or won’t do, which is protect the wells and aquifers that provide drinking water to our homes,” the petition says.
Officials in nearby Butler Township received a similar petition in July.
To read more on the rights of communities with regard to gas drilling, see: