Town hall meetings to address gas-drilling concerns

Staff report

VILLA MARIA, Pa.

Two town hall meetings on shale gas drilling in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio and how it affects air, land and water are scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Oct. 26 in Magnificat Dining Hall at the Villa Maria Community Center.

Ken Dufalla and Lauren Burge will speak at this week’s session. Dufalla is from Green County of the Izaak Walton League, a fishing group. Its purpose is to defend the soil, air, water and wildlife and save it for future generations.

Lauren Burge is a staff attorney for the Group against Smog and Pollution, a Pittsburgh-based environmental organization.

On Oct. 26, Sister Nora Nash, director of the corporate social responsibility program at the Sisters of St. Francis in Philadelphia, will speak at the meeting dealing with stewardship of the earth and faith traditions. Religious groups are joining the debate over natural-gas drilling.

Future sessions will address the gas industries practices, the financial impact on communities, the federal, state and local governments’ role and the moral and ethical considerations.

These meetings are open to the public.

For more information, call 724-964-8920, ext. 3331.