Activist to Address FrackFree ‘Town Hall’ Meeting
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A retired police officer, Marine veteran and farmer who once was a proponent of hydraulic fracturing but has reversed himself will visit the city to present his views.
Ed Hashbarger, today a vocal opponent of the process commonly referred to as "fracking," will be the guest speaker at FrackFree Mahoning Valley's second town hall meeting Thursday evening at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown, 1105 Elm St.
Hashbarger is especially concerned about the oil and gas industry's practice of "mandatory pooling," a tactic critics say is used by energy companies to force landowners to become a part of a larger drilling unit against their will.
"This all started for me when I attended an oil and gas meeting just to gather some knowledge," Hashbarger was quoted in a press release from FrackFree Mahoning Valley. "Being a farmer and a conservative, I asked a question: What happens to landowners who are just not interested in leasing, and they told me, 'We'll take if from you anyway.'"
The 1½-program begins at 7 p.m.
Hashbarger was also cast as an extra – playing a police officer – in the upcoming movie "Promised Land" that stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process used during the completion stages of oil and gas exploration. It entails injecting large volumes of water and sand, as well as a small quantity of chemicals, at high pressure to shatter shale rock to release oil or gas in the strata.
Critics of the process say that fracking contaminates water and the environment, that it poses health risks to those living in communities where oil and gas exploration is active.
"The fracking issue’ goes beyond politics. We want to be inclusive because we are all in this together," said Susie Beirersdorfer of FrackFree Mahoning Valley. "We share a common ground, which is our concern for the public health, safety and well-being of our families and local communities."
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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