Cecil Township’s recent decision to impose a 2,500-foot setback from residential properties and a staggering 5,000-foot setback from schools and hospitals under the guise of “safety” amounts to an outright ban on future natural gas development in the township.
This decision isn’t grounded in science or public safety; rather, it’s a purely political move aiming to shut down an industry crucial to Pennsylvania’s economy, our nation’s energy security and, critically, our ability to continue driving environmental progress.
The measures Cecil enacted mirror dangerous legislative proposals that drew bipartisan criticism from policymakers who were gravely concerned about the impacts to future natural gas development in Pennsylvania. As an MSC whitepaper analysis found, a 2,500-foot setback would render ~97% of Washington County – the state’s second largest producing county – off limits to development.
“Pennsylvania citizens and consumers want affordable, clean, domestic energy. Pennsylvania natural gas delivers on each of these needs. Increasing setbacks is a misguided policy that threatens our national security and prosperity while impeding the property rights of Pennsylvania citizens,” Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Callahan testified.
Let’s get the facts straight. There is no scientific reasoning behind a 2,500-foot setback. It was only suggested in a politically-motivated Attorney General Report that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) cited as “factually and legally inaccurate” and “a disservice to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
More, the information cited to constitute such requirements relies on unfounded statistical associations rather than studies based on actual air, water, and waste samples. Real-world, data-based studies – as well as real-time monitoring of development and related infrastructure in our backyards – repeatedly show no significant public or environmental harms associated with responsible, regulated unconventional natural gas development.
By ignoring this wealth of data, Cecil’s ordinance sets a dangerous precedent – one that undermines both growth and the hard-earned progress in domestic emissions reductions that clean, reliable American-produced natural gas provides.
Our industry’s track record proves that Pennsylvania can thrive as an energy leader while protecting the environment by making real progress in reducing emissions. With over 40 laws, permit authorization requirements, and technical guidance documents enforced by the DEP, Pennsylvania already has the strictest regulations, including setback distances, of any major energy-producing state in the country.
So what drove Township Supervisors to make such a decision? For those in the industry working day in and day out to ensure the natural gas produced here is done safely, the answer is frustrating: influence from environmental activist organizations, many of which are funded by billionaire-backed foundations with little concern for Pennsylvania’s economy, American energy resilience, or communities’ wellbeing. These activist groups, using alarmism, have one goal only: to regulate the natural gas industry out of existence, prioritizing political agendas over scientific evidence and practical needs.
“To state [natural gas] development must be banned because it cannot be done safely is a slap in the face of the men and women we represent,” President Rob Bair of the PA Building & Construction Trades Council testified at the hearing last year.
Natural gas is more than just energy in Pennsylvania; it’s an economic engine, a provider of jobs, and a critical element to reducing emissions. It is also the chemical foundation to every day modern life, whether it be the goods we utilize every minute of every day to the medical devices and equipment we rely on to keep us alive. It’s beyond time to prioritize sound science and the practical benefits natural gas provides America over the politics of a few who exploit fear for their dystopian causes.
