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Nov 4, 2009 8:01 pm US/Eastern
Marcellus Shale Drilling Has Critics & Supporters
(KDKA)
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Drilling for natural gas in the so-called "Marcellus Shale" deposit is creating thousands of jobs and turning farmers into millionaires. But critics say it's also scarring the land, creating noise and dirt and pitting neighbor against neighbor.
KDKA
How would you feel if your neighbor did something that made him rich, but damaged the value of your property?
That's what's going on in parts of Greene County and Washington County where drilling for natural gas in the so-called "Marcellus Shale" deposit is creating thousands of jobs and turning farmers into millionaires.
But critics say it's also scarring the land, creating noise and dirt and pitting neighbor against neighbor.
They rise 150 feet in the air, towering over farms, but the big rig and its drilling is no bother to horse farm owner Roji Hoskin.
"I love my farm," Hoskin said. "And I wouldn't do anything to ruin my farm."
Down the road, George Zimmerman says the "Marcellus Shale" drilling has all but destroyed his 500-acre spread.
"They've ruined our property," says Zimmerman. "They've ruined our lifestyle."
Battle lines are being drawn over what the drillers call the biggest economic news to hit the region since the steel industry.
"We believe that this will be the largest job-creating mechanism that this Commonwealth has seen in many generations," said Matt Pizarella, of Range Resources.
Companies like Range Resources have shifted drilling into high gear with 400 wells this year and as many as a thousand anticipated for next.
The new industry has created 50,000 new jobs in the state and everyday land movers are plowing new roads and creating new drilling pads.
"Clearly, it is a short-term disruption and it is an industrial process as you can see," said Pitzarella. "But it is temporary and we believe the long-term benefits far exceed those temporary hurdles."
Rather than destroying farms, Range Resources says it's preserving them and will eventually return them to near pristine shape.
And struggling farmers are cashing in without have to sell to housing developers.
Range Resources has created seven new millionaires and paid out $20 million in royalties to lease holders like Mary Dalbo who says she can't worry about what the neighbors might think.
"You know what? Neighbors don't pay my taxes; I can't worrry about him," she says.
But at meetings, like a recent one in Cecil Township, some residents say they believe the new industry will destroy the rural nature of the town and fear that chemicals used in the gas extraction process will make people sick.
In a process called fracking, the drills dig down thousands of feet and pump water and chemicals into the rock to free - and then trap - the natural gas.
Environmentalists contend the process leaves toxic chemicals in the ground and that the excess water is polluting rivers like the Monongahela.
"It's very clear that the waste water from the drilling process is very dangerous to aquatic life, is very dangerous to our drinking water," said Myron Arnowitt, of Clean Water Action.
But so far the state has only attributed a small percentage of so-called - total dissolved solids - in the river to natural gas drilling.
But Zimmerman's convinced otherwise after the Atlas Drilling Company clear cut his trees and drained his wells.
He sued after testing his ground for contaminants and found high quantities of arsenic, PCPS and benzene.
"I don't want to stay here anymore," he says. "They've ruined this piece of property."
But back at the Hoskin Farm, life goes on and Roji Hoskin says the drilling has been a God send in tough times.
"I'm not going to be rich," she says. "I'll have a few more dollars than I have now though. I can tell you that."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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