>By David Saleh Rauf
ANNAPOLIS – Legislation to create a temporary moratorium on natural gas drilling in Western Maryland’s Marcellus Shale deposits appears poised for passage in the House of Delegates.
The full House gave the bill preliminary approval Tuesday after the chamber rejected five amendments and an attempt to shelve debate by the proposal’s staunchest opponent, Delegate Wendell Beitzel, R-Garrett.
The bill, dubbed the “Maryland Shale Safe Drilling Act of 2011,” would restrict drilling in Maryland’s slice of the Marcellus formation until 2013, when two state agencies would be required to complete a study that outlines the potential environmental impact associated with a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
The technique, which pumps water mixed with chemicals into rock formations, has been touted as a technological breakthrough because it allows oil and gas companies to drill deeper and horizontally to extract natural gas from the formation for the first time.
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