Marcellus Shale air quality issues topic of Oct. 12 hearing in Media

HARRISBURG, Sept. 26 – State Rep. Greg Vitali announced that there will be a hearing 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Delaware County Community College, 901 South Media Line Road, Media, to discuss concerns about air pollution from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

"Air quality is a growing concern as Marcellus drilling expands across the state, said Vitali, D-Delaware. "The purpose of this hearing is to examine the extent of air pollution associated with drilling and what steps need to be taken to address that."

The hearing is being hosted by the House Democratic Policy Committee at the request of Vitali. It will be held in the large auditorium, room 2225, in the Academic Building.

Those tentatively scheduled to speak are former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger, Clean Air Council attorney Jay Duffy, Group Against Smog and Pollution attorney Joe Osborn, American Lung Association of Pennsylvania Director of Environmental Health Kevin Stewart and former DEP Southwest Regional Director George Jugovic.

Also scheduled to speak are three representatives from the Marcellus Shale gas drilling industry: Andrew Paterson, executive vice president of technical affairs for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Jim Cooper, regulatory affairs environmental specialist for Chesapeake Energy and Carla Suszkowski, director of regulatory policy for Range Resources.

The hearing is open to the public. However, only members of the committee may ask questions of those who testify.

Vitali said more details are available by contacting his office at 610-789-3900.

CONTACT: Bob Laylo
House Democratic Communications Office
Phone: 717-787-7895
Fax: 717-783-6839
Email: rlaylo@pahouse.net