Our future

[Youngstownshrimp]

Only if they work on this new found resource, if they just want another handout, they can join any of the public sector sucking machines that seem to be everywhere in the Valley.

[AllanY2525]

My second-biggest hope for the gas industry, beyond jobs, is that the price
of locally produced natural gas will lower everyone's utility bills in Youngstown
and the valley.

This would be a huge "fringe benefit" to everyone in the area.

[Youngstownshrimp]

So far, I have not heard of any Marcellus shale drilling here locally.  What they are drilling here is shallower and they are hitting what you call the "Clinton."   Which is more cost effective right now.  Nevertheless, there is activity and no astute businessman will question a 650 Mil investment in gas pipe manufacturing.  I am perplexed that most of our leaders don't get it, but again, look at their track record.

[Towntalk]

History of Shale Oil

http://tennesseebillsotr.com/otr/Adventures%20In%20Research/Adventures%20in%20Research%2046-10-29%20Oil%20from%20Shale.Mp3

Note: This program was aired on October 29, 1946 - 63 years ago.

[Towntalk]

Full disclosure:

Marcellus shale hearing ... Ensuring the protection of our resources

http://www.theprogressnews.com/default.asp?read=21302

[Youngstownshrimp]

This is all going to bank on the local leadership and if they are smart enough to seek local business talent and pull up any obstructions present.  One example, is they need to recognize that the city landbank which produces zero revenue for the last ice age, can and should be placed in a stewardship run by knowledgeable business people.  This stewardship will be taxed to promote land business, energy, timber, urban agriculture and aquaculture.  These are the God given resources here at our feet , WATER, LAND, MINERALS and...............we are missing something, but we have plenty of it here too, manpower.  Three thousand strong, over at the Jobs and Family services, they are picking their asses right now.  Jobs will be everywhere if we get off our spoiled asses and start growing something and using the greenery. 

And don't worry about the future, gas is just for the interim, wait til you see what science will bring us next, the harnessing of gravity and vacuum.

[Towntalk]

I just hope that the folks here aren't so short sighted that they pass up the opportunities that could open up.

We all know that there are those who oppose drilling for natural gas just as they oppose drilling domestically for oil, but we can't afford to allow them to dictate the valley's future.

We're on the cusp of a new era for the valley, and if we allow this opportunity to slip out of our reach then we might not get another.

I'm all for diversity and would love to see companies come into the valley to manufacture green energy products but we can not afford to throw up roadblocks to other sources of employment for our people.

There's nothing more that I'd like to see than for the publications that are always slamming Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley have to eat crow and write about our rebirth.

[AllanY2525]

Speculators have already been approaching citizens on the South Side for
some time now - my property manager has been approached multiple times just
in the last 12 months, regarding "mineral rights" - or something to that equivalent,
having to do with natural gas.  They keep asking him to lease his land to the one
of the gas companies.

I suspect that the speculators have been doing this , very quietly and in the
background, for longer still.  I also suspect that there must be a fairly large
deposit of natural gas in the area where his property is located - why else would
the speculators be sneaking around, trying to get everyone in the neighborhood
to sign lease agreements?

The thing I like about the report TownTalk linked to below, is that it said the
Marcellus Shale could bring bountiful income to the local economies of
Northeastern Ohio and Northwestern Pennsylvania for a few decades.

If this "gas play" pans out, I only hope that all of the cities in the affected areas
have enough common sense to use some of the proceeds from the gas wells
to diversify their local economies - so that one day, when the gas finally DOES
run out, they won't be left the way they were when the steel industry collapsed.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Thank God, they are finally getting it, the future is under our feet!  Gas! plenty of it!

34 acres on the eastside of Youngstown, $10,000

We need to march on City Hall and tell D'Avignon to open the Landbank up for drilling!!!!

[Towntalk]

The new V&M Star pipe mill, which will be one of the largest projects in memory, is by all measure a major turnaround for Youngstown. Over the past several years we had to settle for call centers, and other service jobs, but now, thanks to a French company we are going to get a manufacturing job, but more than that there is the distinct possibility that we will see the valley become a center for natural gas production as we have one of the largest reservoirs of natural gas here. The Marcellus Shale is a large natural-gas field hidden in shale deposits under eastern Ohio and nearby states that has been opened up by advanced drilling techniques.

The V&M Star announcement becomes even more significant since the mill, and the businesses that will be spin-offs and the presence of the Marcellus Shale deposits will bring drilling companies to the valley creating new jobs with them.

Just as the former steel mills took time to expand opportunities, this new project will not see major expansions over night, but it does offer us hope for a bright future for the valley provided we are wise enough to take advantage of it.

It isn't often that such opportunities come our way, and given the valley's reputation it could change those views in a really meaningful way.

Who knows, maby the days of referring to Youngstown as part of the rust belt may fade into memory.

Marcellus Shale - Appalachian Basin Natural Gas Play

http://geology.com/articles/marcellus-shale.shtml


http://www.earthworksaction.org/pubs/OGAPMarcellusShaleReport-6-12-08.pdf