Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Marsellus Shale Updates

I have attended two Town Hall panel discussion meetings; one in Lawrenceville and one in my living room. Each were very informative. Each had similar representation from gas industry, public health, local/state government representatives, PA, DEP., etc. One of the primary issues that have not been answered to the satisfaction of many of the attendees is environmental pollution of water due to the process of fracking. There is so much concern, City Council member Doug Shields introduced a bill the first week of September banning drilling within the Pittsburgh city limits. The issue is not restricted to Western PA; there is a similar situation in New York where the EPA is scheduled public meetings on the gas drilling technique. Additional reading on the environmental impacts of gas drilling can be found in a report on the Riverkeeper web site. Riverkeeper is a environmental group who's mission is to protect New York drinking water.


The other issue that is a great concern to town hall attendees is "forced pooling": which in the attached article refers to the ability of the gas company "to drill under a landowner's property even if the owner didn't want to lease his land for gas exploration".

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