Pennsylvania Legislators Weigh Drilling Moratorium (But Not For Marcellus)

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

June 29, 2012 | 6:30 PM

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Pennsylvania's state Capitol

You read the headline correctly. The same legislative leaders who have embraced Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling as an economic boon are considering placing a moratorium on natural gas drilling.
The formation in question is the South Newark Basin, which lies underneath southeastern Pennsylvania. More from the AP:

Lawmakers will consider slapping a moratorium on drilling into the untapped South Newark Basin natural gas reservoir, which lies below portions of southeastern Pennsylvania.
The provision is contained in an amendment expected to be added to a key piece of budget-related legislation Friday.
The United States Geological Survey estimates that the South Newark Basin has 876 billion cubic feet of gas, which is a fraction of the 141 trillion cubic feet thought to be contained in the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation.

The Department of Environmental Protection would be barred from issuing permits until the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources completes a study into drilling’s impact.
This, of course, is exactly what environmental groups pushed for and didn’t get when it came to Marcellus Shale drilling.
The language is part of the fiscal code legislation – that’s the revenue side of the state budget – which lawmakers aim to pass by the end of the day tomorrow. The $2.10-a-barrel ethane tax credit aimed at Shell – the one that could result in more than $1.7 billion in breaks over 25 years — is part of that package, too.