County officials to discuss shale drilling

County officials to discuss shale drilling

YOUNGSTOWN

Mahoning County leaders will convene for the inaugural Mahoning County Shale Initiative Committee meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

The meeting will take place at Oakhill Renaissance Place Auditorium, 345 Oakhill Ave. and will address topics related to Utica and Marcellus Shale natural gas and oil exploration in the Mahoning Valley.

Scheduled attendees include: Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally; Clark Jones, county emergency-management director; Jim Petuch, recycling division director; Marilyn Kenner, deputy engineer; Mike Conway, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation; and Kathleen Vrable-Bryan, Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District administrator.

“This is just a preliminary to see if we need to do this,” Vrable-Bryan said. “This is being done for safety and prosperity.’

Vrable-Bryan said county leaders will not discuss the pros and cons of oil and gas drilling.

“We just want to make sure we are working together,” she said.