Group sponsoring drilling tour

MATT HUGHES

mhughes@timesleader.com

The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is offering community leaders and political hopefuls a first-hand look at the development of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier.

The group will sponsor a tour Sunday of areas in Bradford County undergoing Marcellus Shale gas drilling development, including an active drilling site and a pipeline compressor station, coalition member Scott Cannon said.

“Our main focus in the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is education,” Cannon said, “and that’s what this is about. It’s an educational trip.”

Cannon said the group sent out 45 email invitations to state representatives and senators from the area, candidates for Luzerne County Council and local community organizers.

Cannon said 10 had replied by July 22, the deadline to RSVP, among them: Democratic congressional candidate William Vinsko, Dallas Borough Supervisor Frank Wagner, a representative of the city of Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County Council candidates Eileen Sorokas, Theresa Morcavage and Kathleen Dobash.

Cannon said seats for the tour are still available, and the coalition is offering them to interested community and civic leaders from Luzerne, Lackawanna and Columbia counties. Interested parties can contact Cannon at 719-9986.

In addition to viewing drill sites, the group will speak with Bradford County landowners about how drilling has affected their lives, and a speaker will discuss the economic impact gas drilling has had on the tourism industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Cannon said.

Cannon also said he plans to tape the tour and edit it into a short film he will post on the coalition’s YouTube Channel. The tour will depart at 10 a.m. Sunday from the Dallas Shopping Center parking lot.