Commissioner candidates call for slowing down the pace of gas drilling in Bradford County

Published: February 18, 2011

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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN John Morningstar, founder and coordinator of the Bradford County TEA Party Patriots, says he'd like see the pace reduced at which permits are issued in order to slow down the gas drilling in Bradford County.

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN

TOWANDA - At a meeting of the Bradford County Concerned Citizens on Thursday, the coordinator of the Bradford County TEA Party Patriots called for a reduction in the pace of gas drilling in Bradford County in order to reduce local traffic congestion, and two candidates for Bradford County commissioner expressed support for the idea.

John Morningstar, coordinator of the Bradford County TEA Party Patriots, said at the meeting that he wanted to see a reduction in the pace at which permits for drilling gas wells are issued in Bradford County, which he said would reduce the traffic congestion in the county and would provide time to assess what damage is being done to the ground water by drilling.

The natural gas supply will always be there, so it doesn't need to all be extracted at this time, he said.

"Regulating the number of permits is an excellent idea," said Don Fitzwater, a Republican candidate for Bradford County commissioner who lives in West Burlington Township.

Fitzwater, who had worked as an assistant highway manager at the state Department of Transportation, said the permits he wanted to limit are for oversize loads carrying construction equipment for well pads and pipelines.

Republican Doug McLinko, who is running for re-election as a Bradford County commissioner, said that the "traffic is incredible" in Bradford County, and is much heavier than it was anticipated to be.

The drilling "is moving too fast and furiously," McLinko said. "We need to slow it down."

Approximately 25 people, including candidates for public office, attended the meeting, which was held at the Unitarian Church on Second Street in Towanda.

The Bradford County Concerned Citizens had asked the candidates for Bradford County commissioner and other county-wide offices to attend the meeting, and the candidates who attended each gave a speech lasting several minutes and took questions from the audience.

At the beginning of the meeting, Morningstar also gave a speech.

Daryl Miller, a Republican candidate for Bradford County commissioner, said that gas companies are piping water in the county that is used for the hydraulic fracturing of gas wells.

But he said that for some reason the pipes cannot go underneath roads or highways.

"Why not let them pipe it from one pond to the next pond to the wells," he said. "It would take half the trucks off the road."

Incumbent county Commissioner Mark Smith, who is running for re-election, said there are plans for additional piping of water in the county.

Smith said he has been a big supporter of a severance tax on gas wells, which he said would not only provide needed money at the local level to deal with the effects of the drilling boom, but would also provide money to the state. And he said the money going to the state could help pay for a solution to the heavy traffic congestion on U.S. Route 6 in Wysox Township, such as a bypass.

The issue of the finding a solution to the traffic congestion in Wysox Township was raised earlier in the meeting by Bob Miller of Franklindale area, who asked the candidates for county commissioner what they would do about it.

In response to Miller's question, Smith had said there is "just no money" in Harrisburg for a large-scale solution to the traffic congestion on Route 6 in Wysox Township, such as the construction of a bypass.

For a rural county like Bradford, it would be "very, very, very difficult" to convince lawmakers in Harrisburg to come up with the money to reduce the traffic congestions on Route 6 in the Towanda area, he said.

Fitzwater said he agreed with Smith that it will be difficult to get money from the state to address the traffic congestion in Wysox Township.

"With a $4 billion state deficit, it will be awfully hard to get the money for a bypass," he said.

North Towanda Fire Chief Terry Sheets has said the traffic congestion on Route 6 in Wysox Township is preventing firefighters from getting to the scene of emergencies in a timely manner, because they can't get to their fire stations quickly enough.

Republican county commissioner candidate Sharon Lowery said that dealing with the traffic congestion is not something that will be solved overnight.

To address the issue, the "right people" need to be brought to the table, including representatives of the gas industry, she said. "We have to keep being the squeaky wheel, until they listen," she said.

More coverage of meeting will be in Saturday's Daily Review.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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