Mar 30, 2017 2 min read

BELLE VERNON – Rostraver Township is preparing to adopt it first ordinance regulating the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling industry.

Commissioners are taking a proactive approach to ready the township in the event an oil and gas exploration company seeks to stage a drilling pad in the municipality, a township spokeswoman said Thursday.

The drilling industry has been slow to arrive in the township. There are no applications pending for the industry in Rostraver, she said.

The proposed ordinance is a result of the industry “becoming a potential safety problem and concern” in the community, township records indicate.

The township intends to require the companies to obtain a one-year township permit to conduct operations.

The companies must notify the township about the type of explosives they intend to use, and submit a traffic control plan, the document shows.

Property owners within 250 feet of an operation must be notified in writing by a company before activities begin, and drillers also must purchase a legal advertisement in the local newspaper stating its intentions.

The ordinance also permits testing operations to take place only from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

It also sets fines at $2,000 per day for violators of the ordinance’s provisions.

Rostraver commissioners are expected to vote on the ordinance at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the township building at 201 Municipal Drive, Belle Vernon.