Fmr. Governor Urges Forum to Remain Focused on Facts, Science, Potential Benefits of the Marcellus

Canonsburg, Pa. – Today, the Philadelphia City Council’s Environment and Transportation & Public Utilities panels will hold a joint hearing focused on the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale’s clean-burning, job-creating natural gas reserves, which – by year’s end – is projected to create nearly 88,000 jobs in Pennsylvania alone, according to Penn State University researchers. This tightly-regulated production is enabled by the 60-year old energy stimulation technology known as hydraulic fracturing, which has been safely used in more than 1.1 million wells nationwide without ever directly impacting groundwater.

Gov. Tom Ridge, a strategic advisor to the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), issued the following statement regarding today’s hearing, where MSC president and executive director Kathryn Klaber is slated to provide testimony and expert analysis:

“Developing the Marcellus Shale’s abundant, job-creating natural gas resources in a world-class manner is the priority of every operator in this industry and an imperative we must get right. The Philadelphia City Council deserves much credit for examining this production and the benefits – thousands of jobs, a cleaner energy future, and more affordable supplies of energy for consumers – that are being realized for each and every Pennsylvanian.

“Education and an honest and civil debate about this process is absolutely critical, and the industry is committed to equipping Pennsylvanians with the facts about this tightly-regulated, environmentally sound development. Our hope, and expectation, is that today’s City Council meeting will provide a venue to help advance these shared goals.”

NOTE: A recent study by the non-profit STRONGER (State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations) — a national board of state regulatory officials, industry experts and environmental stakeholders — underscored the fact that “hydraulic fracturing has been used in Pennsylvania since the 1950s. Since the 1980s, nearly all wells drilled in Pennsylvania have been fractured. Although thousands of wells have been fractured in Pennsylvania, DEP has not identified any instances where groundwater has been contaminated by hydraulic fracturing.” Click HERE to view this study on-line.

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