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Upper Burrell residents, officials clash over Marcellus Shale drilling

Date: 6/8/2010

By Liz Hayes, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Upper Burrell supervisors and residents butted heads Tuesday over how much the township can regulate Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

About 60 residents called for supervisors to limit or prevent drilling in the largely rural township. Many attended a presentation last week on the alleged environmental damage caused by Marcellus drilling.

But supervisors and their solicitor, Steve Yakopec, said municipalities have little authority over natural gas extraction.

Residents Ron Slabe and Debbie Borowiec, two of the main organizers of the environmental presentation, said they believe supervisors can add some drilling restrictions to the township’s zoning ordinances.

Slabe specifically referenced the state Supreme Court decision last year upholding Oakmont’s right to limit drilling in R-1 residential zones. The court ruled Oakmont’s zoning ordinance, which required drillers to obtain a conditional use permit in residential areas, did not supersede the state’s Oil and Gas Act.

However, as Yakopec pointed out, the court also ruled Oakmont improperly denied the conditional use permit to the drilling company, Huntley & Huntley.

"They got the gas well," Yakopec said.

Yakopec said the Oakmont case does not conclusively establish whether communities can restrict drilling to certain zones.

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