Amid all the hubbub over MarkWest Energy Partners sinking $500 million into Butler County natural gas operations, I still felt it was newsworthy that, at the May 7 Butler Township Board of Commissioners meeting, the commissioners emphatically denounced Act 13.

Act 13 is the recently passed state law that, among other things, usurps the ability of municipalities to meaningfully regulate natural gas development via zoning ordinances, and forces municipalities to allow the construction of gas wells, pipelines and compressor stations in residential neighborhoods.

The commissioners also voted unanimously to draft a letter of support for those municipalities that are challenging the legality of Act 13 in court, and to send copies of the letter to Brian Coppola, chairman of the Robinson Township (Washington County) Board of Supervisors and spokesperson for the litigant municipalities, as well as to state Sen. Mary Jo White and state Rep. Brian Ellis.