Regarding the Ligonier Township fracking and rezoning situation: Anyone with a computer and Internet access can do a cursory glance at public records and discover that members of the planning commission and the board of supervisors have multiple gas leases.
The consulting group guiding public officials, The EADS Group, is heavily involved in the oil and gas industry. According to its own website, EADS is a member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association.
A member of the planning commission is also an employee of this same company. If a person has a lease or works for a company in the industry, that person is part of the oil and gas industry.
There is a discomforting presence of the oil and gas industry within our township government. It has the opportunity to influence, if not control, the outcome. The voting public deserves the same, if not more, influence.
Ligonier Township is small. Let's hope we can overcome the potential for bias and have a public referendum to restore voter confidence.
Paul C. Hefner
Ligonier Township
