Fayette Radio Host Says Shale Criticism Led to Firing
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
30 May 2011
By Jacqueline Feldman,
Controversies over Marcellus Shale drilling have shaken up the airwaves
in Fayette County.
A longtime conservative radio host on WMBS in Uniontown claims he was
fired last month over views aired on his show that criticized the
health and environmental impact of natural gas drilling in the area.
Robert Foltz, host of the show "Let's Talk" for 10 years, said he was
terminated on April 20, after a guest on his show, Dan Bailey,
president of the board of directors of the Carmichaels Municipal
Authority, said that bromine, a byproduct of natural gas drilling, had
contaminated the area's public water supply.
The station's general manager, Brian Mroziak, at first declined to
comment on the reasons for Mr. Foltz's departure, saying he could not
discuss personnel matters.
The station's Facebook page, however, described Mr. Foltz's departure
as a "leave of absence."
But Mr. Foltz said he never asked for a leave of absence from the show.
Minutes after the April 20 program aired he received a letter signed by
Mr. Mroziak and Robert Pritts, president and owner of the Fayette
Broadcasting Corp., which owns the station.
"This letter acknowledges that, by mutual agreement, you have agreed to
terminate your at-will status with Fayette Broadcasting Co. Inc,"
according to the letter. At-will agreements allow employers to
terminate employees legally at any time.
"Also," the letter continued, "by your choice, you have decided to let
your listeners know ... that you have elected to 'take a personal leave
of absence' from WMBS Radio."
Station managers replaced Mr. Foltz with Mark Rafail, an alternate on
the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board, which, among its duties, aids
landowners in obtaining permits for drilling.
"It amazes me that the station took this stance," Mr. Foltz said last
week. "It was a combination of politics and [comments on] the
drilling," that forced him out, he said.
Mr. Mroziak disagreed. "The natural gas stuff had absolutely nothing to
do with Bob being let go," he said.
The station is one of a few sources of local information in rural
Fayette County where, according to a study released by PathWays PA in
2009 in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and
Industry, 35 percent of the county's families could be categorized as
"economically distressed."
The natural gas industry has already invested millions of dollars in
the county, one of the more active counties for drilling in the state,
where 169 permits for drilling were signed in 2009 and 2010.
Just a month before Mr. Foltz's hosting ended, the station began airing
a weekly, two-hour show called "Natural Gas Matters" on Fridays in the
slot following the show Mr. Foltz used to host. The show answers
listeners' questions about Marcellus drilling. Its major sponsors are
McDonald Land Services, which surveys land for drilling companies, and
National Brokerage, a financial services firm that helps landowners
manage leases.
The show's hosts "talk about the positive impact of natural gas, the
jobs it creates," Mr. Mroziak said. "They let people know what they can
do with their newfound wells."
On the first episode of "Natural Gas Matters," host Jason Miller said,
"We're pro-industry. Just so you know.
[Co-host] Chris and I are pro-industry," according to online audio
files of the show.
"We both get paychecks from gas companies," explained Chris Whinery,
the show's other host.
Mr. Mroziak says the show is a moneymaker, popular with those who fund
it as well as listeners. "We have a lot of nice sponsors lined up for
the show." He declined to say how much revenue it brings in for the
station.
Mr. Foltz's show often addressed potential environmental and health
effects of the drilling prevalent in Fayette County.
On the April 20 show, Mr. Bailey, the Carmichaels municipal authority
president, explained to listeners that increasing levels of
trihalomethanes have been measured in the borough's public water supply
since late 2010.
Trihalomethanes, which are possible carcinogens, are formed when
chlorine at water treatment plants and organic material mix with
bromine, a byproduct of drilling through the hydraulic fracturing
process.
Mr. Foltz said these segments airing environmental concerns were
popular. "Oh, I was loaded with calls, start to finish," he said.
A repeat guest on Mr. Foltz's show was Marigrace Butella, a tax
collector in Dunbar who had taken an interest in the environmental and
health impacts of drilling. She belongs to a local chapter of the Izaak
Walton League of America, a national nonprofit active in environmental
conservation efforts, and the Mountain Watershed Association.
"I was impressed that they had a forum for public discourse," Mr.
Maciorkoski said of the show.
"We're an economically disadvantaged area," Ms. Butella said. "There's
a lot of farmland. When these people come in and they offer people
thousands of dollars [to have wells on their property], they just can't
refuse it. I felt that the radio station was a good way to get
information out."
Delma Burns, a frequent listener to Mr. Foltz's show who has lived in
Lake Lynn for 61 years, agreed. "He was quite popular in the area," she
said of Mr. Foltz. "He covered a lot of problems and would let people
call in with whatever their concerns were. That was one venue that we
had that we don't really have anymore."
Mr. Foltz said he is looking for another job in radio journalism.
Jacqueline Feldman: jfeldman@post-gazette.com; 412-263-1964.