Sen. Corman

On November 18 the Senate Republican Policy Committee will hold a public hearing on the issues surrounding drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The Senate panel will hear from testifiers on a wide variety of issues related to the Marcellus Shale, including the:economic impact of large-scale development of Marcellus Shale;environmental impact of gas development and the Commonwealth's current state of statute and regulation regarding drilling;the experience of other states with similar resource development; andthe readiness of Pennsylvania's various levels of government to properly manage the economic, environmental, infrastructure and social impacts of development.

Scheduled to provide testimony are: Acting DEP Secretary John Hanger, Teri Ooms, Joint Urban Studies Center at Wilkes University, Tom Beauduy from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, and William Muszynski, Delaware River Basin Commission, representatives of the drilling industry from Appalachian Shale, Chesapeake Energy and North Cost Energy, Elam Herr, PA Association of Township Supervisors, Dan Fisher, Bald Eagle Area School District and John Baen, Professor of Real Estate at the University of North Texas.

The Committee is chaired by Sen.Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) and Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) will be hosting the Committee.

11/14/2008