Commission to Consider Holding Hearings on Marcellus

In the orderly process of deliberation, a hearing should be the first step. I would propose that the County Commission conduct Hearings at Special Meetings in which all sides are invited to present evidence and testimony of this issue. Each presenter would prepare written remarks so a proper record would exist. Remarks limited to ten minutes with questions afterward. I hope we could hear from geologists, hydrologists, forest and park representatives, farmers, those who leased those who did not, lawyers, tourist businesses, mayors, elected officials, DNR, DEP, etc. This would give the Commission a broad view of the issue so it could then make a reasonable decision as to how to proceed.
What do you think?

Will hearings really change your mind about the great risks to which fracking exposes your most basic necessity, i.e, water?

Polluted and ruined water supplies in and around these fracking operations in New York, Pennsylvania, and now West Virginia have convinced many that the risk is too great.
The only folks who will benefit from protracted hearings on this issue are the gas companies. The longer they can run amuck without meaningful regulation, the better for them. They will just love this idea.

Commissions should simply enact outright bans on fracking pending state legislation on the matter. A ban could always be repealed if and when meaningful protections are enacted by the legislature.

I think the Commission should act. I also think its action must be grounded in solid thinking and an open forum inviting the likes of Norman Alderman to explain to me why his idea of riches should be allowed to endanger our water. I do not think the County should be in a spot of being held hostage to that kind of thinking.