CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania's easternmost counties has been put on hold for months, if not longer.

On Wednesday, the Delaware River Basin Commission voted unanimously to draft new regulations to govern natural gas projects and not to issue any permits until the new rules are in effect.

The decision means that even as activity escalates throughout the state - nearly 900 Marcellus permits have been issued this year - no production drilling can be done in the Delaware watershed.

Adopting new rules could take six months to a year, commission Executive Director Carol R. Collier said Thursday.

It will stall indefinitely the lone application before the commission - for a well site in Wayne County at the northeastern tip of the state.

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