07/14/08 06:37 AM
WHITESVILLE
DEC to hold hearing on plan to drill oil and gas wells
WHITESVILLE — The state Department of Environment Conservation will hold a hearing on a controversial oil and gas well drilling proposal at 1 p. m. Tuesday in Whitesville Central School.
East Resources of Warrendale, Pa., is asking permission to drill as many as 6,000 wells in the Fulmer Valley sandstone in the Whitesville Field, a 20,000- acre area that includes parts of the towns of Willing and Independence in Allegany County and the Town of West Union in Steuben County.
An association of landowners, Preserve Our Water and Environmental Resources (POWER), plans to protest the drilling operation. Chaired by Ed Worman of Whitesville, the group objects to the company’s bid to drill 12 times as many wells as DEC regulations allow.
