On Coopersburg’s Border, a Town Moves to Restrict Gas Drilling

Though many think the fight about natural gas drilling is a northern and western Pennsylvania issue, one local township is taking the fight about fracking to heart. Bucks County's Springfield Township, which borders Coopersburg and Upper Saucon, recently made headlines when township supervisors sent a proposed ordinance to the planning commission that would restrict any future gas drilling to a specific industrial zone on the township border.

The industrial zone, in the northwest part of the township at Route 309 and Hilltop Road, would allow approved drilling. “What many people don’t realize is that there is shale in eastern Pennsylvania,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “We sit on the Lockatong Shale formation.”

The formation, a long thin band of shale, runs through the Delaware Watershed from New Jersey through Bucks County and southern Lehigh County before continuing southwest through the state. The shale has been the subject of several legal battles in Nockamixon Township, also in Bucks County.

Currently, there’s a moratorium on drilling in the watershed, but that could be subject to change. “The moratorium on drilling is currently only temporary,” said Cathy Frankenberg, program organizer in the Bethlehem office of Clean Water Action. “We could see action on the moratorium as early as September.” September is the first public meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission, which imposed the moratoruim. The meeting would be the first time the moratorium could be lifted.

Springfield Township is trying to stay ahead of the curve with its ordinance. “The Lockatong Shale is an unproven formation,” said Frankenberg, referring to the fact that no gas has been detected yet in the formation. “What we’re seeing now is a land grab in preparation for potential drilling in the future.” Carluccio agrees. “There’s a long history of exploratory drilling along the formation [for oil], but none in modern times.”

Carluccio feels local residents need to be more aware of the possibility of drilling in their municipalities. “Right now there are [state] legislators who are working to limit the ability for municipalities to restrict drilling through zoning. Without local legislation, gas companies could theoretically set up gas wells throughout a township.”

Of the three local municipalities –, and – only two have laws on the books to restrict drilling. “Upper Saucon allows gas drilling within specific industrial zones,” said township manager Tom Beil. The industrial zone is in the southeast corner of the township, not far from the Springfield Township industrial area.

Lower Milford also restricts drilling, but as a conditional use of land zoned for Agricultural Conservation. “The land zoned can be used for gas drilling as a special exception,” said zoning officer Rich Kinsey. Both townships require anyone interested in drilling to go before a zoning hearing board before action can be taken.

As of this writing, Coopersburg has no ordinances to restrict drilling for natural gas. “We don’t have a law on the books,” said Larry Andes, the borough's zoning officer. “But anyone interested in drilling would have to go in front of the zoning hearing board.”

Carluccio warns that without a zoned area, townships may find little legal protection against gas companies. “[Gas companies] don’t care about a township. They would rather no one had zoning laws so they could set up wherever they want in a town.”

The Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) is on the agenda for the Springfield Township Planning Commission meeting at 7 tonight.