School Loses Chance at Grant Due to Ban
Wheeling Intelligencer
14 July 2011
By Warren Scott
Wellsburg Middle School has lost a chance at a $30,000 grant for band
instruments because of the city's ban on natural gas drilling.
Officials with Brooke County Schools and Chesapeake Energy, the natural
gas company that partly supports the grant, and the state Division of
Culture and History, which administers it, confirmed Follansbee Middle
School will instead receive the grant.
Karen Gresham, deputy commissioner of the state Division of Culture and
History, said the grant comes through the VH1 Save the Music Foundation
and Chesapeake Energy, with each contributing evenly. Gresham said for
several years the foundation has provided funds for public schools to
provide musical instruments to pupils in primary and middle schools to
encourage their involvement in the arts.
She said more recently, through the efforts of Randall Reid-Smith,
state commissioner of culture and history, a pilot program has been
established that pairs funds from the foundation with a business or
other partner. Chesapeake Energy is one of a number of partners that
has agreed to match the VH1 grants, Gresham said, and such partners may
suggest areas where the funding may be awarded.
She said Chesapeake was interested in funding schools in Brooke County,
where it has initiated drilling operations, and with the help of Brooke
County Superintendent Kathy Kidder, Wellsburg Middle School was
targeted for the funds. But before the money was awarded, Wellsburg
City Council adopted an ordinance banning natural gas drilling in and
within a mile of the city, citing concerns that drilling could
contaminate the city's drinking water, which is derived from wells.
Stacey Brodak, Chesapeake spokeswoman, said, "Chesapeake is very proud
of our record of philanthropic giving and our efforts to enhance the
quality of life in the communities in which we live and work. While we
strive to find worthwhile community-support projects that benefit those
in the areas where we are approved to operate, it is important that we
dedicate our company's resources where they cannot only advance the
interests of our shareholders but other stakeholders as well.
"Given the volume of requests we get across the country, it is
imperative that we focus our philanthropy where we and our operations
are supported by the community and its leaders," Brodak said.
"Unfortunately, with the imposition of a ban on our activity for a mile
outside the city of Wellsburg, we are not now able to consider the
current request for philanthropic gifts in this area. We are hopeful we
can work together to eliminate the impediments and opposition to
resource development in the area and can once again develop a mutually
beneficial partnership with this community."
Chesapeake and other natural gas companies use a process known as
hydraulic fracturing to release the gas from the underground Marcellus
shale formation. It involves blasting the shale with a fluid that
includes 95 percent water and sand and 5 percent various chemicals,
some of them toxic.
Gas industry officials say the drilling occurs thousands of feet below
water tables and the gas wells are heavily sealed with concrete and
steel to prevent the fluid from leaking into the ground.
Opponents point to incidents in which wastewater from the process was
spilled outside the wells or methane from abandoned coal mines was
released, resulting in fires.