Breathed a sigh of relief -even if only temporary...

Maybe we could get McIlhinny and Quinn and others to put a moratorium on the also evil Voter ID bill! Congratulations to Joe Fredricks who put the pressure on! Ann

Good luck to people in other parts of the state where the drilling will go on unabated.

Let me start by saying I am not a scientist or geologist. - but have a concerns/questions, perhaps has been adressed already.

In theory, Would releasing the gas from under our region, or any other region up and down the East coast, also decrease pressure that is holding our land surface up? Could it then cause huge sink holes, possibly caving in the land we live on? That eventually the entire East coast would be affected? Not to mention the gas flammability!

Also, about 2 yrs back, I noticed drilling happening off of Twining Bridge road, by the power wires. Could that have been fracking? Was that legal?

It should be obvious to all that water migrates underground and above ground and does not respect man made county borders.
The approach being used in this legislation is nothing less than outright insanity spoken by men who cannot see the world in real terms.
Water must be kept safe in all aqifers or we face disasterous consequences.

Short term financial benefit to this generation will become abundantly apparent to our children and grandchildren in several decades just as we today are able to view environmental and geological errors made in mining coal--the last century's driver of profits. I continue to believe local municipalities should have say over whether they want to incur the risks associated with this "safe" method of extracting gas. Hydro-fracking should not be forced down their throats by state government. Sure, great for Bucks to gain a moratorium, but there are other counties and towns just as concerned over how Act 13 tramples their rights and puts water, ground stability and other things at risk. The state's reaction to them...Too bad, get over it.

For those of who draw our drinking water from wells, all I can say is thank God. If anyone has been up at the northern teir of Pa and witnessed what is going on, it is a mess up there. I have a question for Corbutt. Where is all that natural gas going? I hear its going overseas where they can get a better price for it. I don't think it is going to benefit our commonwealth one bit. What about all the oil discovered in the Dakotas, when are we gong to bring that up? When we find an overseas buyer?

Question, Did Bernie O'Neill vote for this? I don't see his name mentioned.

as an example: a ball holds gas(air) which is pressure pushing out on the walls of the inside of the ball, take out the gas and what happens - it deflates. So let's go back to reality take the gas out of the ground which is pressure pushing up on the ground we walk on, take the gas out and what happens - sink holes, earthquakes

NY State is still going to be tracking on the border just above our area. I am glad this has passed but I think we are still going to have problems.

Well, it's not like we NEED to extract natural gas in this area with the abundant Marcellus Shale still barely touched.

I find all the hullabaloo about contaminated wells and drinking water rather amusing considering the fact that wells are drilled only to a depth of 800-1000 feet and fracking is conducted at depths from 8000-10,000 feet .... with thousands of feet of impermeable rock between the respective layers. I have yet to see water seep UP through an impermeable layer of rock.

As for the balloon analogy, aren't you assuming the Earth is airtight for that analogy to work?? The natural gas trapped below ground is contained in cracks and fissures - rarely, if at all, in huge pockets.

I also do not think the people in the Marcellus areas, who are making huge amounts of money for their mineral rights, consider themselves victimized, let alone the number of jobs and spending going on in their area as a result of natural gas extraction.

Personally, I can't wait until I'm able to fill my natural gas-running auto from a hose leading from my own house at pennies compared to the price of liquid petroleum!

The people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its political leaders are playing with fire in regard to the good old boy network of out of state Texas and Oklahoma oil and gas culture. The boys and their families do not live here or drink the water. The only commitment they have to Pennsylvania they have is to make a ton of money fast and on the cheap and then move on to sweeter gas and oil spots once they got what they wanted. In return they dangle ever changing royalty checks and the promise of jobs while making energy to keep our grandmothers warm in the winter. Then they scream they will leave if they do not get what they want.

I would defy anyone to actually believe anything which big time players like Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy say given where his company is today.

Just ask the people who live in Hazelton or Jim Thorpe PA if they are any better off now that the coal industry has had its fill and left a legacy of pollution in its wake.

The single most thing that could help lower income and large families is to reduce their heating and electric cost. Also keep in mind, lower energy cost in business can mean higher wages to employees. It's simple math, lower overhead allows businesses to higher more employees, sell their products at a lower cost which helps the entire community. People who are against drilling for natural gas are simply wrong, maybe even evil. After all, higher energy means high food costs too. Drilling has been around over 100 years and it is safe.

Fracking can trigger earthquakes. Sanatoga Fault lies directly under LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT in Limerick, Montgomery County. Linfield Fault lies within a couple of miles and Ramapo Fault is close by, which is an active fault. We don't need any dangerous fracking near that nuke plant!!!. The communities have enough to worry about, as it is!!!!

If there is one thing that we here in Bucks County can agree upon, it is that we treasure our environment, and we will fight to protect it, whether on the streets or at the polls. Some of our Reps have obviously discovered this.
I am elated to be able to get the benefits of this moratorium, but shouldn't the rest of our state have this benefit while they study the effects of fracking??? Something stinks in Pa.

You guys crack me up. Wacky enviromentalist claiming natural disaters, sink holes and earth quakes. Continue to ignore that your organic foods and hemp clothes rely on transportation. Continue to put your head in the ground of the real world. Start acting like adults and accept that hard choices are not the utopia world you expect.

Wherever there's high-volume horizontal hydro-fracking, water and air pollution follows. EPA documented leaky casings in Pavillion, Wyo, and PA DEP said failed well casings were the cause of methane contamination in Dimock, PA. Right now, in Butler Co., methane geysers are erupting. You can watch them on You Tube. Gas production bring accidents, spills, millions of gallons of radioactive wastewater. No one can deny that it's a heavy heavy industrial process and it's changing the landscape across Pennsylvania.

Mike, you seem reasonable even if you do sound like a gas guy. We could power our cars (even Volvos) with electricity generated from wind and solar. We could also greatly improve the efficiency of our current grid. We could exchange short-term gain for long-term sustainability. I think it's easy to ignore the plight of people directly and negatively impacted by gas drilling when you're comfortably ensconced in a "Conservation Zone."

This will never hold up. Drilling will begin shortly - period. It looks like Bucks and Montco are getting special treatment.
Natural gas has plummeted over 70% off its highs - I would suggest that it is because of our policy to drill drill drill.
Some people laugh at the idea that we could change policy and impact oil prices by 25% (our president thought it funny that Newt said he could drive gasoline down to $2.5 per gallon). I think it is funny that people would be happy with $2.50! I will relax at $2.50. Price should be $1.50 - $1.75.

Note : I work in the gas and oil industry so I am biased. However, it also makes me more knowledgeable then those that have watched Gasland to get the facts!

I will attempt not to engage the morons in a nasty way though - you are welcome Theresa!

James, I'm opposed to gas drilling, especially in watersheds, and I get my facts from a wide variety of sources. How `bout you? I wonder what you think of Corbett's plan to combat those low prices by exporting liquified gas to eager markets like Japan? Since you're in the industry, you probably know that producing liquified gas is more carbon intensive than producing compressed gas bound for domestic use. How can we justify exporting all the "cleaner-burning" benefits while incurring all the adverse greenhouse impacts of yet another dirty fossil fuel? It's unpatriotic.

Enviromentalist- the real party of no. Enviro's love to "roll" out "facts," but are on to the next "fact" before the last is proven wrong or exaggeration. Resonable people like clean water and air. Resonable people consider options and make difficult choices. Enviro's are blinded by the ideology they share. Wind will not power the fleet of prius's they have needlessly amassed. Solar is dangerous, relying on deadly heavy metals. Nice storm we had the other day, could you imagine the windmills crashing into solar panels all in the name of the enviroment. Any how congrats for our "not in my backyard" crowd. God forbid you have any real knowledge of the energy policy besides youtube.

Smyrna-X, we're at greater risk from the heavy metals like barium, radioactive isotopes like radium 226 and highly carcinogenic compounds like benzene and toluene in found in frack flowback than we are from the materials used to make solar panels. And when there's a huge, uncontrolled control solar spill, we simply call it a nice day.

As far as Energy Policy is concerned, are you aware that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted gas drillers from The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and The Safe Drinking Water Act? Perhaps a little ideology is a good thing if it protects the air and water from an absolute adherence to gas drilling dogma.

We need more of these on our side of the state. So great for tourism - and campfires..

http://www.tiogapublishing.com/news/the_wellsboro_mansfield_gazette/methane-water-spout/article_a9733e36-bb02-11e1-8204-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=image&photo=2

Eviro's love erie/love canal. Pollution purposely pumped into both. Your comparision is not apples to apples. Fracking has potential. You dont even entertain the thought. Enviro's are purely focused on their way and thats it. By the way im a resonable person, as I said in my earlier posts. I drive a ford hybrid, use a pellet stove a my sole heat source(its awesome) and have reinsulted the house well. I dont do it to save the world and brag to my enviro friends. I just sensable and dont submit myself to your religion.

There are at least 150 different chemicals pumped into the ground when fracking. Dimmock is living proof of hell on earth and the aftermath of rashes, allergies, cancer and deaths. We are fed gmo foods with no labeling or choice, and by the way it's now 70% since the 1990's. The elitist have been carrying out their plan for some time now. Look up once in a while and see for yourself, chemtrails, not contrails loaded with aluminum, barium and host of different chemicals. Get enlightened by G. Edward Griffin at realityzonedotcom

All these chemicals and toxins from mother earth, I m feeling scared about hugging a tree. I love it when wacks call their own quacks!

You can drink the fracking fluids I have seen used. And Maggie, there are way more than 150 different chemicals in those fluids. But that does sound nasty! You know how many chemicals are found in a cup of coffee? Over 1,000 different chemicals and as many as 15 of them are known to cause cancer! OMG - that is a fact and it is scary isn't it?

So now imagine how the EPA and these environmentalists would describe the fracking process and chemicals used in drilling EVEN IF the drillers used a 1000 gallons of water with one cup of coffee in it as their fracking fluid!

They are all a joke with no real facts to back up anything! Start educating yourselves and don't fall victim to these idiots with an agenda.

The industry actually enjoys this distraction from some of the real nasty things they are doing that has nothing to do with environmental issues but how to use such issues to drive up prices, supply, and demand - Like the oil industry! Everyone in gas wants to be like the oil guys. I have worked at a site where It has cost $12 per barrel for the last 50 yrs to pull the same oil out of the same well - yet look what they get for that barrel today!

Keep getting distracted - keep being stupid... "we" are counting on it!

Hey everybody, here is a dirty little secret, there is radon gas in almost every deep domestic well in this region. It is disolved in the water and is released in your hot shower. Even if you have "city water" it's most likely comming from a well. Better hold your breath and take short showers!

It's all the landlords fault!!!! Anyone who makes $$$ is evil. I am the golden cockroach & everyone should beware of me!!!!!!

I make $ from taking my neighbors to court, The true American Way!!!!!!!

Don't tell Pottstown I owe $5,000. It's a mistake.

Tom,

I could counter everything you throw my way, but I won't. I will limit it to this response and be done with you because we could go back and forth on this forever!

The levels of Radium-226 you quoted the EPA as finding to be "267 x the allowable discharge limit to surface water" is how your side uses scary numbers to misrepresent the facts. To me, everything is relative! You are making it appear as though drillers are dumping millions of gallons of said tainted water into our rivers and streams in their everyday process and that is not true (I think you probably know exactly what you are doing when you present such a thing in this type of forum). Since when is fracking flow back water systematically dumped straight back into a river or stream?

An accident here or there needs to be cleaned up as best as possible and addressed, but when compared to the what automobiles drip on the roadway everyday that ends up in our streams and rivers, it's a drop in the bucket. It's all relative!

So everyone keep in mind that these people are counting on most folks minimal understanding of this specific field when they try and scare you into siding with them!

I, on the other hand, explain their agenda to deceive and lie in very easy to understand terms.

Their methods are rather pathetic (anything to win mentality), but can be very effective. Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it!

Jimmy; stay away from the cockroach. You sir are the problem!!!!

Tom,

You are funny - you obviously did not get the joke at the end of the MSDS info - table salt!

And you now suggest that I thought Benzene was a dust! This is how you folks operate - more lies and deception!

Tell us how gas drillers are pumping water with "radium -226 in the fracking flow back water straight back into the rivers and streams with over 267 x the allowable discharge limit to surface water (streams/rivers)" you liar!

I am not arguing that things in nature can be bad for you (if I pour 50 gallons of fresh water down your throat, you wouldn't do too well).

It is how you present the "facts" to make it appear as though things are happening that are not really happening - like gas drillers dumping radium-226 tainted water back into our rivers and streams!

You are a liar!

Tom,
OMG man - you are truley pathetic. The MSDS info I listed was for table salt and I said that at the end of my "joke". Sorry you are too caught up in this discsussion and your attempt to lie to acknowledge that.

Here it is again - exactly how I wrote it the first time you liar - see the last comment - in all CAPS so it was clear that it was a joke. I still find it funny that if you ingest table salt, the MSDS sheet suggests that you seek medical advice immediately.

Benzene? Oh my! Here is MSDS information:
Precautions: Keep locked up.. Do not ingest. Do not breathe dust. Avoid contact with eyes. Wear suitable protective clothing. If ingested, seek medical advice immediately and show the container or the label. Keep away from incompatibles such as oxidizing agents, acids.
FOR TABLE SALT...

Goodbye liar! Keep spewing though - there are plenty of people all too ignorant and eager to listed to guys like you!

In Reading over the comments... I just want to tell Mike that when I went to Zermatt Switzerland in 1992 all they had in town were electric cars and SOLAR buses. I think we Americans are way behind in our technology and too ready to throw poisons around. Also as one who has studied the Earth Sciences I've learned that we don't know enough to say without a doubt that all will be well with our man made concrete wells etc. We really don't know. When we waste precious fresh water in these processes we should have our heads examined.

In Reading over the comments... I just want to tell Mike that in 1992 Zermatt Switzerland allowed only electric cars and SOLAR buses into town. We Americans are way behind in our technology and too ready to throw poisons around. Also as one who has studied the Earth Sciences I've learned that we don't know enough to say without a doubt that all will be well with our man made concrete wells. We really don't know. Can we do this where we have intense populations? When we contaminate precious fresh water in these processes we should have our heads examined.

Tom,

I double down on standing by my facts and pointing out your lies. Very impressive that you can use google to look me up. What are you trying to hide by using only your first name?

If you are standing by your facts, why insist on posting under a name that can not be traced?

I have nothing to hide Tom...

Tom, James, maybe take a deep breath? This is why we can't find real solutions. Author Seamus McGraw likes to say the the two most dangerous chemicals used in fracking are adrenaline and testosterone - ! You're both clearly well informed, and I applaud the debate. We need the energy and many people think we'd be crazy NOT to develop it. Tom and I, however, see serious risks and downsides to developing shale gas that are simply too great to ignore. I'm only a layperson, but I am capable of discerning quality information. For example, according to industry estimates, the best cement wellbore seals will fail in 70-100 years. Is the industry going to return to replug all those wells for the rest of the life of our watershed? Hydro-geologists estimate the Delaware River Watershed has about a million years left in its natural lifespan.

If you need proof that shale gas drilling is destroys people's lives, I suggest you listen to those who have been adversely effected by spills, leaks, off-gassing, air pollution and methane contamination. They live in Bradford, Washington, Susquehanna, Butler and many other counties, and their video testimonials are readily available online:

http://www.marcellus-shale.us/

Decide for yourself if you really think that many people from disparate corners of the state, and the world, are conspiring to make up one big lie about shale gas pollution.

The only thing that is worse than Mankind to our environment is a Corporation. Trust no one if money is involved.

Water purification in the industry is about to change the game. learn more at http://shalestuff.com/fracking-2/consol-invests-epiphanys-water-treatment-technology/