Marcellus Shale - Gas Wells

October 28, 2010

Amid protests, gas tax talks go on

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Opponents of drilling into the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve brought their message to the Capitol on Tuesday as lawmakers worked behind closed doors on a compromise bill to tax the methane drawn from the lucrative rock formation beneath Pennsylvania.

Speakers at a rally in the Rotunda included the maker of the documentary “Gasland” that was critical of the gas industry and a woman who claims nearby drilling poisoned her northeastern Pennsylvania well water.

“Gasland” maker Josh Fox said the industry is causing terror across Pennsylvania — a reference to the recent revelation that Pennsylvania’s homeland security bulletins listed gatherings of drilling opponents — by polluting the land and water of people living near drilling sites.

“The stories are adding up and they can’t hide much longer,” Fox said, backed by people holding signs supportive of a drilling ban.

Various proposals to halt drilling are going nowhere in the state Legislature, and drilling companies have contested a number of accusations against them concerning pollution.

Legislative leaders met Tuesday morning to discuss a wide range of issues that are being pressed in the brief fall legislative session scheduled to wrap up in mid-October.

Both the House and Senate were in session Tuesday, but largely inactive while drilling opponents and environmental and industry lobbyists circulated through Capitol offices.

At a press conference on the Capitol steps on Tuesday morning, Leslie Avakian, founder of ProtectMyRightsPa.org, spoke against “forced pooling,” a provision referred to as “fair pooling” and promoted by the gas drilling industry and supported by some House and Senate Republicans.

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