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Group Launches 'Listening Project' on Fracking
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Communities United for Responsible Energy, or Cure, plans to conduct a "listening project" this spring and summer to survey the effects of oil and gas exploration in Columbiana and Carroll counties.
The group, in conjunction with FracTracker Alliance, The Ohio Environmental Council, and Locals 809 and 1015 of the Laborers Union, plans to survey more than 1,000 residents of Columbiana and Carroll counties and learn how hydraulic fracturing has affected their lives.
The 40 volunteers in the project hope to identify the strengths and weaknesses as oil and gas development continues in the region.
"So far, our work in the community clearly shows that some people have done well," said Cure organizer Caitlin Johnson. "Some folks have been able to save their farms and some people certainly have gotten work. Still, someone needs to look at this industry critically and ask tough questions. That's what we plan to do."
One objective is to find out whether counties that have been drilled extensively, such as Columbiana and Carroll, are experiencing the benefits the industry said were likely to result.
"The oil and gas industry has done a nice job painting a rosy picture of what fracking will bring to our state," noted Melanie Houston, director of water policy and environmental health at the Ohio Environmental Council. "The Listening Project will give people living in the gas lands of eastern Ohio an opportunity to share their observations and will help the public at large learn a fuller picture of the impacts of shale gas development in Ohio."
Members of Laborers Local 809 and 1015 are interested whether oil and gas companies are hiring local workers at fair wages, the union reports. Also, FracTracker Alliance will help the project by analyzing the survey results, produce maps, charts and graphs, and report the survey's findings.
The report will also include recommendations based on the results. These would be announced in October during two public meetings held in Columbiana and Carroll counties.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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