Pennsylvania has the fortune (whether it's good or bad depends on your frame of mind) of sitting atop what some have called the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.  The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that extends from southern New York state, through western Pennsylvania,  into Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.  About a mile beneath that rock, is a treasure trove, a veritable mother lode of natural gas.

Naturally, gas companies are flocking to Pennsylvania to tap that gas using a technology known as hydraulic fracking.  By driving high-pressure water, sand and a mix of chemicals onto the rock, drillers break it apart, releasing and then trapping the gas for use to power homes and industry.  And also, naturally, there is a great deal of controversy swirling around that fracking practice and the property rights and money derived from using this vital natural resource.O

Our expert panel shares with us exactly what happens at a Marcellus Shale drilling site in Pennsylvania – the potential for riches and the pitfalls of gas exploration  Governor Tom Corbett's energy executive Patrick Henderson headlines the panel.  Terry Bossert, vice president of government affairs for Chief Oil & Gas, will discuss drilling practices and the potential for enormous job growth and clean- energy generation in Pennsylvania.  He'll be joined by Jan Jarrett, president and CEO of the environmental group PennFuture, who will weigh in with concerns about the burgeoning industry and its long-term effects on Penn's Woods and waterways.  And our final guest, Carl Kirby, is a professor of geology at Bucknell University and directs the Bucknell Marcellus Shale Initiative.  That program offers the public a database with the latest research on issues related to natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania, answering your questions about how drilling works, the byproducts derived from the process, and how natural gas extraction might affect our environment -- for the good and the bad. 

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