Protests planned for shale conference
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Drilling for natural gas in the Utica and Marcellus Shales is expected to bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to the Valley.
Next week the chamber of commerce is hosting a conference to discuss all of the opportunities that come along with the natural gas boom.
The Mahoning Valley is open for shale business. That's the message the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber is trying to send out.
"One of the reasons we did this is to show that we're interested in the opportunity, we're interested in being educated about it, and we want our members to be educated about it. But we also want the industry to know that this is an area that's open to shale development and the opportunities that come with it," said Tony Paglia from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber.
The chamber is hosting the first conference of its kind for Ohio's emerging shale plays. The Youngstown Ohio Utica and Natural Gas, or YOUNG, conference will be held at the Covelli Centre next Wednesday.
The morning session is open to the public to learn about job opportunities and to educate land owners about oil and gas leases.
You'll need a ticket for the afternoon session and it's already sold out with more than 700 people expected from across the country and around the world to discuss opportunities for businesses.
But there are also people coming to town next week to protest outside the conference. More than 30 groups are working together to organize the protest against drilling in Ohio and the use of fracking, the process used by drilling companies to get to the natural gas.
They believe oil and gas companies are polluting drinking water and destroying local roads. "We're hoping to raise a red flag for the people of Ohio. For them to take a second look at this. Because it's been touted by state officials and by the industry but we want the public to say wait a minute we need to take a second look at this," said Ron Prosec from the Network for Oil & Gas Accountability Protection.
The protesters want to put the brakes on the process while the chamber is hoping to move full steam ahead.
