Murrysville council Wednesday night instructed municipal officials to prepare revisions to a draft ordinance regulating unconventional gas and oil drilling in the community.
Council members re-hashed the setback requirements for shale drilling in an effort to strike a balance between providing protection from the impacts of drilling operations for nearby residents and making sure the ordinance is not so restrictive that the law could be challenged as exclusionary and struck down in court.
After a lengthy discussion about how setback distances should be measured, council reached a consensus that a minimum protective buffer zone should be required from the edge of the well pad to any protected structure.
The current version of the draft ordinance proposes a 250-foot buffer zone from the edge of the well pad plus a 550-foot buffer zone to a protected structure.
In addition, an overall minimum setback distance from the bore hole to the protected structure would also be required under the ordinance. This would allow drillers flexibility in locating bore holes on the well pads, which can be 3 to 5 acres in size, while ensuring protection for neighboring residents, council members said.
Council did not agree to any specific setback distances but members are expected to agree to those requirements at next week’s council meeting.
First Published: January 19, 2017, 11:42 a.m.
