ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Bringing natural gas drilling wastewater into Maryland for treatment or storage would be banned under a bill introduced by a Montgomery County lawmaker.

Delegate Shane Robinson told the Cumberland Times-News that Maryland treatment plants lack the capability to safely treat drilling wastewater.

Drilling advances have led to a boom in tapping the Marcellus Shale formation, particularly in neighboring Pennsylvania.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, have expressed concerns about environmental damage, particularly from wastewater produced by the process.

Parts of the formation also run under western Maryland and the bill does not address water that could be produced by drilling in Maryland. However, drilling is not currently taking place in Maryland while a state panel studies its possible impact. County officials in western Maryland have asked for that review to be expedited.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)