Nobody argues that it's an extraordinary natural resource.
The question is what to do with it, if anything, and that's where the debate begins, but there's more.
The booming gas play in Pennsylvania produced, in just five years, 1,800 new wells with thousands more on the way. In fact, a Penn State report predicts 100,000 new jobs along with them. The big promise with all of this is there will be plenty of cheaper natural gas.
However, to critics, extracting that gas is a dirty business that, if left unchecked, could pollute sources of the Delaware River that supplies Philadelphia's water.
Proponents argue gas drilling will bring prosperity in the form of royalty checks that could save family farms and potential taxes that could fill holes in government budgets.
"I believe natural gas drilling will help preserve our area, keep the open space open, provide jobs, revenue," David Jones of the pro drilling side said.
"The Delaware is one of the most threatened waterways in the country because of natural gas drilling and this new type of drilling called hydrofracking," the Eastern Region Director for Food & Water Watch Jim Walsh said.
A mile beneath much of Pennsylvania lies the Marcellus Shale. Some of its richest deposits lie in the Delaware River watershed that provides water for 15 million people.
Here's the controversy: In order to get the Marcellus gas, a relatively new and controversial process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking is required. In this process, a vertical drill moves horizontally to get the gas bound up in the rock and then millions of gallons of water mixed with toxic chemicals and sand are forced into the shale fracturing it; the gas then pours out.
Critics fear accidents and spills could mean methane and toxic fracking water could pollute drinking water. Many point to the Sundance Award film 'Gasland' that tells of problems in western states. In one remarkable scene well water flames.
WEB EXTRA: Penn State Prof. Terry Engelder's view
Closer to home, in 2008 in tiny Dimock, Pennyslvania, some groundwater became so badly polluted an elaborate filter system can't clean it.
Dimock resident Craig Sauter said recalls what one observer said.
"She is looking at my jug of water and she says my mother lives in a third world country and she has better water than you do," Sauter said.
"There have been too many leaks, too many spills, and too many accidents," Pa. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger told Action News.
WEB EXTRA: More from John Hanger
The state's top environmental enforcer says in response to Dimock, the department has doubled its inspectors; it has issued 1,400 violations in 2 and a half years. Hanger says drilling will never be perfect, but thinks the risk can be managed safely and Pennsylvania can have a gas industry and protect its water.
"I absolutely have confidence that the water in the city of Philadelphia as long as we enforce the rules that we have is safe today and will be safe tomorrow," Hanger said.
Concern about the future brought out protesters in Trenton. Currently, the Delaware River Basin Commission has a temporary moratorium on gas drilling. It wants to know more about it. The EPA announced it is going to conduct a new study on fracking.
In Dimock, they are waiting until the study
A lot of people are watching including the Philadelphia Water Department. The drilling industry recently hired former governor Tom Ridges' consulting firm to burnish its image.
Drillers plan to be in Philadelphia next week to meet with various opinion makers.
Informative Links:
Marcellus Shale entry on geology.com
Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale - U.S. Geological Survey
Marcellus Shale Coalition - an organization committed to the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale geological formation and the enhancement of the region's economy that can be realized by this clean-burning energy source.
Pa. DEP Marcellus Shale FAQ Pa. DCNR Marcellus Shale FAQ
