NORWICH - Three of the 11 townships where the subsurface Marcellus Shale formation is deep enough to safely drill in Chenango County have yet to signal whether or not they are open to the business of harvesting natural gas: Norwich, McDonough and Smithville.

The county, itself, and area villages may weigh in on the matter, but have yet to do so. Members of the Oxford Village Planning Board may be considering some sort of decision on natural gas drilling based on their invitation to the village and town boards and the Oxford Town Planning Board to an upcoming workshop on the subject. On Wednesday, the Oxford Town Board became the latest to entertain a motion to adopt a moratorium on drilling, but didn’t.

The Cuomo administration said in late spring that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation would limit drilling permits to the deepest areas of the Marcellus Shale rock formation, and only in towns that agree to it. The deepest areas are in the southwest New York regions of Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga counties.