EARTHWORKS comes to western Maryland to talk fracking

People dealing with Marcellus Shale drilling in Western Maryland have organized a couple events for concerned citizens to educate themselves. At one of them you'll have a chance to meet our very own Marcellus organizer Nadia Steinzor!

April 11th:

Gasland screening

7 p.m., Garrett College Auditorium
Free

Sponsored by friends of Josh Fox.

Josh Fox's Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary will be shown without interpretation or accompanying panel discussion. The public is invited to see first-hand what all the controversy is about.

April 13th:

Industrial Gas Drilling and Community Impacts panel discussion

7 p.m., Garrett College Auditorium
Free

Organized by local citizens and sponsored by the Garrett County Marcellus Natural Gas Advisory Committee.

Speakers:

John Stolz
Professor of environmental microbiology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, is director of Duquesne's Center for Environmental Research and Education. Dr. Stolz has published more than 60 journal articles and contributed to more than 30 books in his field. He is currently investigating the environmental impacts of shale gas extraction on water resources, and his presentation will rely on aerial photography to examine land-use issues in southwestern Pennsylvania's gas industry.

Ron Gulla
A southwestern Pennsylvanian whose contact with the gas industry dates from 2005, when Range Resources drilled the second Marcellus well in Pennsylvania on his property, will discuss his personal experiences. Range earlier this year purchased Gulla's 141-acre farm near Hickory, after years of industrial gas development that Gulla says rendered it uninhabitable. His efforts to educate land-owners have earned him an international reputation.

Nadia Steinzor
The regional Marcellus representative for EARTHWORKS' Oil & Gas Accountability Project, a national organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive affects of mineral development. She will provide a comprehensive overview of OGAP's work in the Eastern U.S., with an emphasis on how the “gas rush” interacts with energy issues facing the country.

Further information: http://marcellusshale.garrettcounty.org