Natural gas exploration is panel topic

Central Pennsylvania's position as a new boom area for natural gas exploration has attracted the interest of more than just gas drilling companies. Two state media organizations want to know what all the buzz is about.

Those organizations - the Pennsylvania Cable Network and Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation - are teaming up with community newspapers, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette and The Express of Lock Haven, to host a town hall meeting on natural gas exploration.

The meeting, which will be broadcast live on PCN, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 29 in The Community Theater, 100 W. Third St. in downtown Williamsport.

The event is free and open to the public, though seating is limited. National and local media coverage of the gas exploration issue sparked the decision to host the meeting in Williamsport, Lauren Lee, PNA foundation director, said.

'It's really getting a lot of press coverage," Lee said. "The New York Times did a big spread on it. We recognize that Lycoming County is in the center of the interest in natural gas mining."

The meeting will be moderated by PCN president and CEO Bryan Lockman and will feature a panel representing the natural gas industry, the state Department of Environmental Protection, landowners, the Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Sun-Gazette.

Among the panelists will be Penn State Cooperative Extension educator Thomas Murphy, who, for the last two years, has spearheaded an extensive gas drilling education program that has reached thousands of landowners in Lycoming County and elsewhere in the state.

According to Murphy, selected county landowners have made "tens of millions of dollars" by leasing their land for gas exploration and stand to make much more than that if and when natural gas production begins.

"However, there are pros and cons to any new industry and the gas drilling industry is no different," he said. "The business community and community in general will benefit economically, but we should also address environmental concerns and impacts that this new industry could bring to the area."

Robert O. Rolley Jr., interim manager of the Sun-Gazette and publisher of The Express newspaper, said the newspapers "are delighted to partner with the Pennsylvania Cable Network and Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation to co-sponsor this Town Hall meeting."

"Landowners across the region who are being approached by leasing agents and offered money for rights to drill on their land for natural gas can attest that this issue is of tremendous importance to their future and the future of the area in terms of economics and the environment," Rolley said.

According to Lee, town hall meetings began about 18 months ago when the newspaper association's president, Tom Williams, and Lockman invited Lee to lunch to discuss ways to promote the two organizations' mutual interests. From those discussions rose the Town Hall meeting broadcasts.

From the beginning, the meetings were meant to address issues that impact people in their communities, Lee said.

The association and cable network chose to partner with local newspapers because they understand the issues that people care about on a grassroots level, she said.

The theater seats about 155 people. Seating will be on a first-come, first serve basis.

The theater, operated by the Community Theatre League, is on the first floor of the Trade & Transit Centre downtown, across from a public parking deck. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. Staff will monitor attendance, but if capacity is reached, the public will be turned away.

The PCN broadcast can be viewed on Channel 41 on the Comcast Cable network service area, Channel 38 in Eagles Mere, Channel 55 for Blue Ridge subscribers and Channel 42 for Williamson Road Cable TV subscribers.