ERIE – — The Board of Trustees voted Wednesday night to impose a six-month moratorium on any new applications for mineral extraction in Erie, most notably natural gas drilling.
The emergency ordinance, which passed 6-0, goes into effect immediately. Trustee Colin Towner was absent.
The decision comes six weeks after Erie’s elected leaders voted against pursuing a moratorium, choosing instead to craft voluntary agreements with oil and gas companies over their operational practices.
But additional information presented to the board over the last few weeks, most notably a study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that showed considerably elevated levels of propane and butane in Erie’s air, convinced several trustees that a time-out on new wells would be a prudent move.
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