Governor Corbett’s new budget imposes a six-year moratorium on drilling for natural gas in the South Newark Basin. That’s a geological formation which includes all or most of Bucks County and part of Montgomery County and extends into New Jersey and New York.  

Bucks County State Representative Paul Clymer says they need time to allow further study of an area that, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, contains a lot of gas.

“I was very much surprised when the USGS came out with this report saying it’s 800 to 900 billion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas resources in the South Newark Basin.  There could be much more, but we don’t know that.”

Clymer says the moratorium gives state and local officials time to prepare for safe drilling.