From the PITTSBURGH POST –GAZETTE:
The head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development has said the state could receive additional revenues totaling $60 billion in the next 30 years and solve all of its economic problems if it would allow new Marcellus Shale gas well drilling throughout its publicly owned forests.
The remarks by Alan Walker, secretary of the DCED, were made in an interview with Capitolwire, an online news service focusing on state government, and reported Tuesday.
According to the article based on a wide-ranging interview about Marcellus Shale development in the state, Mr. Walker acknowledged that getting $60 billion in revenue would require leasing drilling rights under much of the state’s forests, but he said he wasn’t concerned about any environmental impacts…
Click here to read the full article.
EDITOR: $60 billion is a big inducement, but let’s hope it doesn’t shrink the way the Penn Square Partners investment in the Marriott Hotel did or disappear the way of their commitment to school taxes.
Drilling via fracking is dangerous business ~ I sincerely hope that property owners consider the health of their neighbors before selling out to industry. In some areas where fracking has run astray; water supplies are tainted. A few families turn on their water taps, hold a lighter to the water and watch it ignite ~ exploding in a fireball in the kitchen. Lots of examples on the internet; try google or you tube for your research.
I do not want fracking in my backyard until they can guarantee this will not occur again. There are some things that money can’t buy. What do you value?
And just how much is the state receiving now? I was under the impression that there is no money coming into the state coffers. Are these companies now willing to pay? Why destroy Pennsylvania’s forest land? Questions, questions, questions.