CRANBERRY TWP — Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction companies, elected officials and residents all agree that the natural gas industry needs regulations.

That’s what a group of panelists told about 60 participants Oct. 13 at the Western Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Expo and Town Hall Meeting, sponsored by Range Resources, an energy company working in the shale. The public event was at the Regional Learning Alliance in Cranberry Woods Business Park.

This panel was made up of Tejas Gosai, founder of the website www.themarcellusshale.com; Jim Cannon, a spokesman for Range Resources; Bruce Leavitt, a planning commissioner for Buffalo Township, Washington County, who helped to draft a drilling ordinance; and Harlan Shober, owner of Shober Homes and a township supervisor for Chartiers Township, Washington County.

All panel members agreed that Marcellus Shale gas well drilling and other land use regulations should be drafted with the local community in mind.

Cannon said good energy companies, and he admits not all companies are good, just want to know what the rules are so they know what they are facing, which is critical to companies’ planning efforts.

“There are more than 2,000 sets of rules now, specific to each municipality,” he said. “That’s like requiring someone to get a new driver’s license every time they drive into a new town or township.”

Cannon also said there should not be a ban on drilling in Pennsylvania, like those now in effect in New York and Maryland.

“I have never known anything to get better by stopping,” he said. “Like anything, drilling gets better as time goes by.”

As for Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposal to place an impact fee on the industry, as well as one made by state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-25th, Leavitt said he has problems with the Scarnati impact fee proposal.

Scarnati’s plan would take the $76 million generated by Marcellus Shale drilling so far and give $7.5 million to conservation.

“That leaves counties and municipalities, who allow drilling — if your municipality doesn’t allow gas drilling, it gets less money — $41 million with an additional $27.4 million going to the state,” Leavitt said.

“That $41 million is then divided three ways: 34 percent, or $430,000 for the (each) counties; 24 percent, or $18,600 annually for townships; and 20 percent to municipalities, or $18,000 per year.

“When you look at how much it is to build a road, you know $18,000 isn’t going to fix a lot of road,” Leavitt said.

In 10 years, gas producing municipalities will actually end up getting less money, $13,500 annually, than nonproducing areas, $36,000 annually under the Scarnati plan, Leavitt said.

On the other side of the impact fee argument, Shober said many of the drillers work in rural areas.

“Some are using dirt roads to get to their drilling sites, but when it comes time to repair the road, they are leaving these paved roads, and now it’s the responsibility of the municipality or township to maintain these never-before paved roads,” Shober said.

“Its going to cost these municipalities down the road.”