Marcellus Shale Panel Discussion

There is another opportunity coming up for interested parties to attend a panel discussion on the Marcellus Shale drilling issue. The participants are:

Kathryn Klaber - President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition;

Dr. Radisav Vidic - University of Pittsburgh, Chair and Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering;

Robert Donnan -Peters Twp resident;

Chris Moore of WQED - moderator.

The presentation will be held at the Engineers' Building, 337 Fourth Ave on October 4, 12noon. Reservations must be made in advance. Tickets are $20 for Press Club of Western Pennsylvania members and $25 for non-members. For more information, call - 412-281-7778.



For more information on the Marcellus Shale Coalition, check their web site. For more information on Kathryn Klaber check this article in the Post Gazette.

Drought Warning for Allegheny County

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a drought warning for Allegheny and 23 other counties. Please refer to the DEP website for more information on the drought and the measures you can take to conserve water.

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".