Drilling impacts thinning firefighter ranks
HARRISBURG - The Marcellus Shale drilling boom is adding new urgency to a long-standing debate over what to do about the thinning ranks of volunteer firefighters.
Problems exist statewide with finding enough new recruits to join local volunteer fire companies and keeping experienced volunteers as active members, State Fire Commissioner Edward Mann told members of the governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission Wednesday. This subgroup is working on recommendations dealing with local impact and emergency response issues.
The estimated number of volunteers statewide is 50,000, about one-sixth of the number 30 years ago, said Mann. The volunteer companies are under financial strain depending on traditional fundraisers as they respond to more fires in boom areas gaining population and meeting a new need for training to respond to gas well fires or accidents, he added.
"The chicken barbecues don't work very well anymore," said Mann.
He asked the shale commission to give specific recommendations on ways to help finance volunteer companies and underwrite Marcellus training for volunteers. With volunteers providing 95 percent of the fire protection efforts in Pennsylvania, fewer volunteers means there are fewer people responding to emergencies, added Mann.
One issue requiring immediate attention is the future of Marcellus training sessions for volunteers at the state fire academy in Lewiston. So far, some 2,700 volunteers have undergone voluntary training that is paid for by the natural gas industry through a $216,000 agreement with the academy.
The academy training focuses on basic safety precautions. Mann wants to expand the scope of training to include an initial response to gas well blowouts like the one in Clearfield County last year until teams of wildcat experts arrive on the scene.
The academy agreement expires June 30 and the remaining funds will run out by year's end, said Mann.
Another need is for better radio communications among emergency responders in rural boom areas, said David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. Federal aid to improve communications after the 9/11 terrorist attack mainly bypassed rural areas, he added.
Meanwhile, the shale commission has the results of a Marcellus survey of Lackawanna, Luzerne and Susquehanna counties in Northeast Pennsylvania and Greene and Westmoreland counties in Southwest Pennsylvania conducted by the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, based in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
The survey is based on a mail response to questions by 1,461 Pennsylvania residents - a 36 percent response rate among total mailings - as well as 50 in-depth interviews with local business owners, local officials, environmentalists and landowners.
The interviews show a wide disparity in the depth of knowledge among local officials about how to respond to drilling issues, said institute director Teri Oom. For example, some are aware of state laws setting company bonds to pay for road repairs while others are not.
The state should play a stronger role in assisting local governments on these matters, said Ooms.
"There definitely isn't an even playing field among the local governments," she added.
Those interviewed supported a state severance tax with an allocation of revenue to local governments.
The survey mail responses showed that a plurality of 41 percent think the availability of good jobs will improve with Marcellus Shale development while a plurality of 46 percent think the quality of the natural environment will get worse.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com
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