[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 198-202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  THE MARCELLUS SHALE CAUCUS: THE POTENTIAL OF NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed) is recognized 
for 30 minutes.
  Mr. REED. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
  I rise today with a few of my colleagues to talk about an issue that, 
I think, could be a game-changer for the United States of America, 
which is the natural gas development potential that we find in the 
shale formations throughout the United States.
  I have been privileged to cofound the Marcellus Shale Caucus here in 
the U.S. House of Representatives with my colleague from Pennsylvania, 
Mark Critz, who will be joining us shortly. The purpose of the caucus 
is to come at this issue from an objective, scientific, database point 
of view in order to talk about the pros and cons of natural gas 
development in America and, in particular, of the Marcellus shale 
formation, which is located in my district of western New York, 
throughout Pennsylvania, and in other areas of the Northeast.
  One of the things we wanted to highlight today is the indirect 
benefits that natural gas development will have on our country and 
probably most importantly from an economic point of view at this time 
when we face in our Nation's history some of the most enduring and high 
levels of unemployment we have ever seen.
  What we are fundamentally talking about are jobs, not only the jobs 
related to extracting the natural gas, itself, and laying the pipeline 
to transport that natural gas to its markets, but the jobs that come as 
a result of the indirect benefits of that natural gas production. What 
I and my colleagues are, hopefully, going to talk about tonight are 
things like the benefits to the public local municipalities with regard 
to the tax base, road construction and the improvements of the road 
structures that are located within the areas upon which natural gas 
development is occurring as a result of the shale formations.
  Through these conversations, I think that we will be able to 
establish that the benefits of extracting natural gas in America will 
be that game-changing event when it comes to domestic supplies of 
energy that come from American sources--an event we have never seen 
before in our lifetimes or potentially in the lifetimes of our 
children. So I would like to preface this entire conversation by laying 
some preliminary remarks based upon some concerns that have been raised 
as to natural gas development in America.
  I travel my district. I go to many town hall meetings and get out in 
front of the people. At times, this issue can

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become sensitive in the sense of the environmental concerns that are 
raised. I have always taken the position that this issue should only be 
dealt with when we can establish that natural gas exploration and 
development in America can be done in a safe, clean, responsible 
manner. That's why, tonight, I am going to read some quotes to you, Mr. 
Speaker, and to those who may be tuning in and watching this 
conversation, because there has been a lot of discussion about the 
potential threat to our aquifers and to our water supplies as a result 
of hydrofracking and natural gas development out of the shale and tight 
sand formations. For the record, I would just like to quote some of our 
leading environmental government officials in America:
  ``When it comes to natural gas development, the key is to make sure 
that we say, 'Engineers, make sure we do it safely, without harming 
water supplies,' and I think we're well on the way. On chemicals, we 
don't have data that shows those chemicals showing up in someone's 
well. Over time, that may not be a true statement. Unless there's a 
problem with well construction, hydrofracking chemicals shouldn't end 
up in aquifers,'' Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA for the United States 
of America, October 14, 2011.
  ``I'm not aware of any proven case where the fracking process, 
itself, has affected water, although there are investigations 
ongoing,'' Lisa Jackson, Director of the Environmental Protection 
Agency for the United States of America, May 24, 2011.

                              {time}  2130

  You know, these are comments coming from our EPA Director, but then 
there's comments like, ``With respect to hydraulic (fracturing), 
because it occurs so far underground, we don't know any examples of 
(contamination) on public lands. But it demonstrates the importance of 
ensuring we have wellbore integrity up and down the entire wellbore.'' 
That's our Interior Secretary, Kenneth Salazar, testifying to the House 
Natural Resources Committee on November 16, 2011.
  I read these quotes to tell the American people and to tell you, Mr. 
Speaker, that the concern about the environmental impacts to our 
aquifers, though legitimate, I think have been fully vetted and have 
had a long, serious, scientific review and approach in determining that 
risk is not what many people in America are making it out to be. And 
again I reiterate my position on this matter, that we need to look at 
this resource through the economic opportunity that it represents to us 
in our districts, in our homes, but to us as a Nation.
  And we have to look at this economic opportunity and this natural 
resource potential based on making sure that it is done in a safe and 
reliable way, but we also have to look at it from a third point of 
view, and that is the national security implications of tapping this 
domestic supply of energy. Natural gas and oils are now being found all 
throughout America. They are also being found right here in the United 
States of America in the shale formation such as the Marcellus shale, 
the Utica shale formation, and also the tight sands formations that 
exist here in our Nation.
  I don't think I have to speak long or hard to the American people or 
to you, Mr. Speaker, to explain what impact that would have on our 
national security. If we can establish an energy supply such that is 
estimated to be under our own ground in natural gas and oil, we will 
not be sending millions of billions, if not trillions of dollars, to 
people in the Middle East who have publicly declared that we are enemy 
number one. I think this is good public policy to promote.
  On the indirect benefits, I just want to highlight three examples of 
people that are benefiting from this from my district.
  Now in New York in the 29th Congressional District, we have not had 
any development in the Marcellus shale on a recent basis because of the 
moratorium in the Department of Environmental Conservation on the State 
level coming up with the regulations to ensure that this is done safely 
and responsibly. But I have the privilege of representing a district 
that's just adjacent to the northern tier of Pennsylvania, adjacent to 
my good friend, GT Thompson of Pennsylvania, who will speak shortly, 
where we have had a spillover effect of economic opportunity to the 
district.
  I could talk to you about Dalrymple Holdings, it's a long, family-
held company right outside of my hometown of Corning, New York, that 
has been involved in highway infrastructure construction in Chemung 
County for years and counties surrounding it. But now they've expanded 
beyond. The business has seen a tangible impact from the development 
across the border.
  Mr. Dalrymple has reported to me that he has undertaken contracts for 
total construction of 65 miles of rural roads, a value over $22 million 
of road construction being fully funded by private investment. Let me 
stress that again, Mr. Speaker, $22 million of private dollars going 
into road construction upon which Mr. Dalrymple and his company have 
benefited.
  Now, it's not just Mr. Dalrymple. I know this man, he's a good man, 
and in that $22 million worth of additional investment in his company 
and in the projects that it represents, he has been able to create and 
hire over 60 new men and women averaging $40 per hour to his business 
to fulfill those contracts. Those are 60 families that now benefit 
directly as a result of this development occurring in the northern tier 
of Pennsylvania.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Dalrymple and I share a common background in the 
sense of he's a small business owner, I was a small business owner 
before I came here to Congress. And I could tell you there is nothing, 
nothing like looking at a man or a woman when you hire them and bring 
them into your business, and you put them to work.
  When you have sat in that position, you know when you look at that 
person you're not just benefiting that person, that person becomes part 
of your family as a small business owner, and you're taking care of him 
or her, but you're also taking care of his family, his children by 
putting food on their table, by providing extra dollars for their 
children and their education. That is the American ideal. That's the 
American Dream, just to give someone the opportunity to go to work to 
take care of their families.
  And I also will bring to the record tonight a story of our local dry 
cleaning company. I could not believe it, Mr. Speaker. I went over to 
pick up the family dry cleaning, and I was talking to Rick over in 
Painted Post, New York, just adjacent to my hometown of Corning. And he 
said, Tom, come back here, I want to show you something.
  And we went into his back room and he showed me piles of uniforms 
that were used by industrial workers, by the workers on the fields in 
the northern tier of Pennsylvania. He related to me that he was adding 
an additional $5,000-plus revenue to his business coffers every month. 
He talked about how he was able to give bonuses to his employees 
because of that new opportunity. He was another small business owner 
that knew what it was to take care of not only his employees, but their 
families and to have them share in the rewards of the hard work that 
they put together in that dry cleaning operation.
  Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if we don't talk a little bit about 
the public benefits that have been brought to my attention. You know, I 
look to our county executive in Chemung County, adjacent to my home 
county of Steuben County, and I see that his county, a small 
geographical county, mind you, is leading New York State in sales tax 
growth. He's leading New York State in hotel tax revenue increases--a 
small county leading thegreat Empire State of New York by what is going 
on in the northern tier of Pennsylvania.
  And I would be remiss if I didn't tell you the story when I spent the 
day down in the northern tier of Pennsylvania and met with the 
commissioners of Bradford County and they told me about the history of 
their tax sales. You know these sales, Mr. Speaker, these are the sales 
of people who cannot pay their real property tax bill, lose their 
property at an auction.

[[Page 200]]

  I've been to those auctions. I've looked at families that have lost 
their property because they couldn't pay the tax bill. Well, in 
Bradford County, I believe in my friend's district, Mr. Thompson, they 
used to have sales of 100, 150 parcels is my understanding. I know we 
have had them in Steuben County and Chemung County in New York--and 
guess how many parcels went up for tax sale in the last year or two? 
Essentially zero, maybe one or two over those 2-year periods. That is a 
fundamental shift in what is going on in our part of the country, and 
hopefully it could be shared across America.
  And as that one commissioner told me as we talked about some of the 
concerns and issues that have to be dealt with, and traffic is always a 
concern that is raised, he said I'd much rather see traffic lines in my 
home county than unemployment lines. And I, when I heard that line, I 
said, Doug, that is exactly what we're talking about. As a commissioner 
of Bradford County, you nailed it right on the head, and that we are 
talking about creating traffic lines of economic opportunity and 
development for generations of Americans rather than compounding and 
growing unemployment lines.

                              {time}  2140

  And so we will come at this issue of making sure that it is a clean 
and safe resource that is developed, but let us focus and join hands in 
bringing this opportunity for America forward.
  My colleague from Pennsylvania has joined us. Mr. Thompson, if you 
would like to comment, I yield to you.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Thank you for leading this Special 
Order on natural gas and its benefits. And thanks for your leadership 
on the Marcellus Shale Caucus. With natural gas, everybody wins. I am 
very proud to be a member of the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Caucus. 
And I appreciate Mr. Reed, my good friend from just north of me in New 
York, acknowledging that good stewardship and good science is 
important. And we have both when it comes to natural gas. This is not 
50, 60 years ago when we were extracting coal. This is 2012, where we 
have and we benefit from great science, and we know that we have a 
responsibility to be good stewards of the environment. I appreciate 
that acknowledgment.
  I represent Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District. There are 17 
counties that I serve, and that's 22 percent of the land mass of 
Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, 15 of my 17 counties have Marcellus shale, 
and I give thanks for many blessings that God has provided me in my 
life, and I thank God for the blessings of this natural gas at this 
time for our country.
  I also benefit from having an institution like Pennsylvania State 
University, Penn State, in my district, and specifically the ag 
extension part of that land grant university that has experts that are 
out in the field helping everyday citizens with decisions about leases, 
leasing their land, and helping them with issues related to making sure 
that it is done in a way that represents good stewardship by the 
companies.
  And here is the part I am most excited about: They are also helping 
them with finding the right kind of counsel for wealth management. 
That's the kind of problem we like to see our citizens have, a need for 
wealth management, because there were a lot of farmers who were going 
out of business. But today, they have a new John Deere tractor sitting 
there, and largely that is thanks to Marcellus shale. So it's going to 
be good for agriculture, which is good for all of America in terms of 
food.
  Let me talk about some of the benefits because that's what we're here 
to focus on. And I want to start with a big one, and that's energy 
security. Marcellus shale is taking that large valve that controls us, 
all that oil that we buy from the Middle East, and we're going to be 
able to shut that thing off because of energy security, moving towards 
energy independence that natural gas is going to allow this country to 
have. That's something, whether you're in an area that's blessed with 
natural gas or not, every citizen in this country should hope and pray 
and give thanks for the fact that we will move ourselves in the 
direction of being energy secure, and that natural gas is going to 
contribute to that significantly.
  I want to put that out there. It is the first benefit that absolutely 
every American, I don't care where they live in this country, is 
benefiting from natural gas.
  Secondly, it really is jobs. I know that is localized to where the 
jobs occur. I happen to live in an area that has benefited 
significantly. I represent a very rural part of Pennsylvania, and we've 
had our difficult times. We have lost industries. But where we have 
natural gas, we are growing jobs.
  Let me just give a couple of examples. In Tioga County there is a 
manufacturer. Actually, it's an international company. And the 
international company, the parent company, is looking to expand a 
plant. Guess where they're looking to? They're looking to Pennsylvania. 
And they're looking to Tioga County. And a big part of that is 
manufacturing, a key feedstock ingredient, whether used for heating, 
processing, or an ingredient, is natural gas. And the price of natural 
gas being delivered domestically, how it is available, so plentiful and 
so cheap right now, they want to build and expand the plant right there 
in Tioga County. That's very exciting. That's jobs.
  As I wander around Tioga County, I see help wanted signs everywhere. 
And it's not just in traditional businesses that you would think of 
when you think of natural gas. It's all businesses, because the economy 
is good. The income is up. The unemployment is way below both State and 
national averages in the counties where the natural gas production has 
really taken off. And it's moving to other counties.
  In terms of jobs, there's an entrepreneur in Elk County who I serve. 
This is a gentleman who's a real smart businessman. He saw something 
that these natural gas companies need, and he went out and he created a 
small manufacturing business to provide it. He's creating jobs, really 
good jobs for people, skilled jobsin order to produce the supplies that 
the companies need. And you know what, that's good for everybody. 
That's Elk County.
  In Centre County, my home county, there's a road contractor there. We 
know that we have a lot of problems with our roads. We're challenged 
both in the State and Federal budget in terms of money right now. But 
this road contractor is doing great things, as are a lot of small 
excavating companies, in terms of pad preparation and paving those 
roads. You talk about our roads are getting better. The gas companies 
are investing a significant amount of money early on to build roads, 
rebuild roads that really have never been built before.
  In Pennsylvania we have what's called Pinchot roads, named for a 
former Governor, that don't have much of a base. So in the spring when 
the farmers are out there and are running their tractors, they rut up 
and get muddy. They've never had a firm base. Well, today, those 
Pinchot roads are being rebuilt really appropriately for the first 
time. And all of that is driven, that's a secondary benefit of the 
natural gas opportunity.
  If you go to Warren County, we've got a longtime natural gas producer 
up there. It's a small, independently owned company. They've been in 
the oil and natural gas business I have to think for decades. Now 
today, they're partnering with a very large national company, so 
they're helping to bring outside dollars into the Fifth District of 
Pennsylvania, and they're creating more jobs.
  The growth of the hotels, the hotel industry, is just booming, and 
those hospitality jobs are great jobs. In Clinton County, closer to my 
hometown, we have international companies that are relocating to rural 
Pennsylvania. International companies relocating and creating a 
significant amount of jobs. It's a very exciting opportunity that we're 
blessed with today.
  I want to talk about heating costs, another benefit. This was two 
winters ago when the Marcellus was just starting to take off. You know, 
today, natural gas prices are somewhere in the

[[Page 201]]

neighborhood of about $2.60 for 1,000 cubic feet. Just 3 or 4 years 
ago, back when we didn't produce domestic natural gas--we imported it 
all from other countries--natural gas was somewhere from $12 to $13 per 
1,000 cubic feet, or more. And today, it's like $2.60 per 1,000 cubic 
feet.
  Two or three winters ago, the utility in Philadelphia, about as far 
in Pennsylvania as you can get from where we drill natural gas, 
reported that the communities in Philadelphia, their home heating costs 
were at an all-time low. I would argue this winter, if we look in New 
York and Pennsylvania and all of the areas where, because of natural 
gas prices today, being domestically produced, those citizens who 
benefit from heating their homes and cooking with natural gas, their 
costs in a difficult economy are at an all-time low. That's something 
that everybody can benefit from.
  In fact, one of the projects that I'm trying to work on, I think it 
is very important, I would like to see how we get those distribution 
lines for natural gas into more of our communities. My hometown doesn't 
have natural gas. I would love to be able to heat my home with natural 
gas, and I would like to at least see what Federal regulations are 
standing in the way of making that happen. I'm sure there's something 
out there that's a roadblock that we could work on.
  The opportunities that we have today in terms of the benefits from 
natural gas are significant. They span a lot of different areas. I'm 
sure there are things that I haven't covered. I just want to take this 
opportunity to thank you for hosting this forum where we're talking 
about the benefits. These are really benefits that every American can 
experience as a result of accessing a resource that God has blessed us 
with.
  Mr. REED. I appreciate my colleague from Pennsylvania for joining us 
here this evening. If I could continue this conversation with you, I'm 
sure you've done what I have done on numerous times. When I have 
traveled home, up state Route 15, right through the heart of your 
district on the way home to Corning, just over the Pennsylvania border, 
oftentimes I would take a few moments and get off the road and kind of 
go into the local communities there as we filled up the car or we got a 
cup of coffee. Most of the time I drive with a staff member who lives 
in the district, and I'd say: Let's go off road a couple of miles and 
see what's going on. I could tell you, every time I have pulled into a 
gas station there, I have been reminded of the benefits of what this 
can be to a community in that the parking lots are full. I had to wait 
in line to fill up the car because there's a lot of trucks. There's a 
lot of workers. There are a lot of folks coming and going out of those 
convenient marts.

                              {time}  2150

  And some of the most compelling stories I had, I can remember two 
vividly, coming down the road, pulling off at one of these gas stations 
and one of these convenience marts and talking to the lady behind the 
counter. And we did it twice. I can remember vividly saying, what does 
this mean to you? What's going on here? What's causing all this? Kind 
of playing dumb, obviously, I had an idea of what was causing it. But 
in both circumstances, the response was amazing. Yeah, it's not the 
same community. What they would say is that it wasn't the same 
community as when I grew up here, but, boy, everyone seems to be doing 
well. Everybody seems to be happy. And one lady, she expressed the 
conversation because she was working a side job and her husband was a 
contractor. And she said, my husband used to get up at 2, 3 o'clock in 
the morning until this came along, and they were receiving a small 
check, not a retirement size check as a result of this, but a nice, 
stable source of additional income coming into their household. And she 
looked at me and she said, it just kind of takes the edge off. It just 
kind of took the edge off at the end of the month having to pick and 
choose what bill they may be able to pay that month and which one they 
may have to put off for another 30 days.
  We've all been there. I know growing up in that type of family and 
when we first started in our private sector life, my wife and I putting 
our family business together and struggling. There's a lot of stress at 
the end of the month. Probably that's why I lost my hair and maybe why 
you lost your hair. But it was amazing to look that one lady in the eye 
who said, I just appreciate the fact that he doesn't have to get up at 
2, 3 o'clock in the morning anymore, and we've got a little side income 
that's going to take care of their kids.
  That conversation you're not having in America right now in many 
places, but we're having it in your district. And not so much in our 
district in the sense because we don't have the natural gas going right 
now, but we've seen the positive impacts like that. And I don't know if 
my colleague has any similar stories to those two young ladies that I 
refer to.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. I do. Let me talk about, just out of 
fairness and equity, two young men, and this was actually published in 
the local paper. And they were doing a coverage of the Marcellus shale. 
And I was very impressed with this article because it was two young men 
who had just graduated from a local high school, actually in Clinton 
County, not too far off over the line from where I live. And they had 
decided they were going to go for a little technical training. They 
were going to go to a community college setting, get a certificate 
program, basically for driving a truck. And they did that, and then 
they secured jobs with someone who I assume was hauling sand or hauling 
water for the Marcellus operations around the area. These young men I 
have no doubts are today, and fairly fresh out of high school, are 
earning somewhere in the neighborhood of over $60,000 a year, and 
probably with overtime a little more. That's a pretty incredible start 
for a young person.
  Because I have to believe that my district, the 22 percent of the 
landmass of Pennsylvania that I serve is probably a lot like your 
district that our number one export for many years has been our young 
people. We educate them, and I like to think we do a good job of that, 
and they go to where there's opportunity. And there has not been 
opportunity in our economies, and our areas have been somewhat 
depressed economically for some time. And today, opportunity has 
returned. That is what this has been.
  And there are jobs sitting open now of all types. And that's the 
exciting part. When I hear about people that are unemployed--and we 
have had folks protesting about not having jobs. Well, come to the 
Fifth District of Pennsylvania. You don't have to work in the natural 
gas industry, because the natural gas industry they've kind of taken, 
they've been able to recruit some really good folks out of other 
positions. Some of those have been retail positions, service positions 
and manufacturing positions, but now those jobs are sitting open. And 
that's the effect that this kind of an economic opportunity has.
  Mr. REED. And I so appreciate my colleague, and it is the sentiment, 
and I know our time is winding up. But one thing that also touched me. 
I've done a few tours in the northern tier of Pennsylvania in your 
district, and I've gone back on my own to go and verify information 
that has been presented to me. And I came back at the last, over the 
recess, over the holiday, I came back, and one thing struck me as I was 
driving home, and that's when talking about having the ability to 
educate their grandchildren and the children from these family farms, 
and I know you've had those conversations, I've had those 
conversations, we down here in Washington have spent billions if not 
trillions of dollars of public taxpayer money to try to lift people up 
out of despair; through the welfare society, entitlement society we 
have invested billions, trillions of dollars here. And look what 
happened based on private economic opportunity and development in the 
northern tier of Pennsylvania. You have generations of families that 
are now lifting themselves out of poverty and out of conditions that we 
are spending billions down here, they're doing it on their own, and

[[Page 202]]

I think it makes them a stronger individual in our society and it 
unites families for generations, and it empowers families for 
generations to control their own destiny. That's what the American 
Dream is all about.
  So I appreciate my colleague joining me this evening and having this 
conversation. And I so appreciate the invite coming to your district 
and your coming to my district and our continuing the efforts to 
educate the American people on the benefits of natural gas development 
in America, the benefits of Marcellus shale and through the Marcellus 
Shale Caucus getting the best science and information out to the 
American people.
  With that, I thank my colleague, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.

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