Leaders to discuss shale exploration

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

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

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, chief deputy engineer; Mike Conway, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp.; 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.