YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Staff from Mahoning County agencies and offices formed what termed "a shale initiative" Tuesday, a step intended to keep officeholders and bureaucrats more fully informed about the benefits of oil and gas drilling in the Utica shale.
The meeting, in Oakhill Renaissance Place, established the initiative as an entity that will meet quarterly to be briefed on shale industry activity in Mahoning County.
“The purpose of the shale initiative committee is to bring all the county agencies and any other interested agencies together so we have accurate information,” said Kathi Vrable-Bryan. “It’s a sharing of information for the prosperity of Mahoning County with all the drilling that’s going on.”
Vrable-Bryan is manager of the Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District.
She invited the agencies to meet after she heard about Medina County forming a similar initiative.
Members of the initiative expect the mechanism of quarterly meetings will reduce redundant discussions and the spread of misinformation.
“The main reason is so that we have accurate, updated information that we can pass along. We’re working together not only independently but collectively as a team to make sure information is accurate,” Vrable-Bryan said.
The purpose of the meetings is not to discuss the pros and cons of drilling, but to identify what agencies must do and have the information they need to get that done.
Meeting quarterly should suffice in the near term, those present agreed
“A lot is on hold because the price of natural gas is so low,” said Marilyn Kenner, Mahoning County chief deputy engineer.
Mahoning County is home to only two wells, not the 40 bandied about last year, she pointed out, and there may be only two more when the initiative meets again.
Between meetings, members can communicate through an online forum the Mahoning County auditor’s office will set up. Auditor Michael Sciortino said he wants to update the county’s property mapping information system to reflect where the wells are dug or located.
Also present were Commissioner John A. McNally IV; Clark Jones, director of emergency management; Jim Petuch, director of the recycling division; members of the prosecutor’s office, the planning commission, and the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments; and sheriff’s deputies.
Invitations to the next initiative meeting, set for April, will be sent to Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Department of Taxation and Medina County shale initiative.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.