Bradford Era reporters are working on these stories and more for Tuesday morning’s edition. Local, independent oil producers battling their inclusion in new, stricter industry regulations have succeeded in gathering more than 1,500 letters in support of their cause. Local fire departments, a water department, McKean County elected officials and law enforcement are among those joining the letter-writing campaign urging a state review board to reconsider the economic impact of proposed updates to the state’s Oil and Gas legislation. The letters claim more rigorous requirements included in changes to Chapter 78 of the Pennsylvania Code could put small scale oil and gas producers out of business and in turn impact local refineries like American Refining Group. Impact to this company alone would leave 364 refinery jobs hanging in the balance. At the center of the debate are small scale producers like Mark Cline of Cline Oil in Bradford. With the federal government under pressure to enhance the safety of petroleum product transportation after multiple fiery accidents over the past seven months, local emergency responders say they have long been undertaking proactive steps to prepare for such incidents. Emergency officials in cities across the U.S. have said they would be ill-prepared to handle any more derailments such as those that occurred in North Dakota, Quebec, Canada Alabama and New Brunswick, Canada since last summer, the Associated Press reports. However, local officials say they are prepared for such incidents, as they are familiar with the industry here in the oil patch of Pennsylvania. Bradford Township fire chief Dan Burkhouse said on Monday that he doesn’t think any of the proposed federal measures are going to affect response plans locally. “I don’t think we’ll need to alter our response,” Burkhouse said. “We train for a wide variety of everything and we have a great working relationship with the local refineries. We train more here because the industry is here and has always been here — we’re used to it.” A Bradford man was killed in a one-vehicle crash about 2:42 a.m. Monday on Congress Street in Bradford Township. Cody Frantz, 29, of Bradford, died of injuries sustained in the crash, when the sport-utility vehicle he was driving slid sideways while heading north on Congress Street (near its intersection with South Avenue), went off the east berm and struck a tree, according to Bradford Township Police. McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill pronounced Frantz dead at the scene, according to police. Police said his passenger, Kyle Dewyer, 23, also of Bradford, was injured and transported from the scene by Bradford City ambulance to Bradford Regional Medical Center and then to UPMC Hamot in Erie, where he is listed in stable condition. Police said they were assisted on scene by Bradford City ambulance personnel. The investigation is ongoing, police said. Reporters are also attending meetings of St. Marys City Council; the Kane Volunteer Fire Department about the future sustainability of the department; and are talking to local state lawmakers about whether or not marijuana should be legally sold in Pennsylvania.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 03:12:24 +0000
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