[Griff]

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Susquehanna County is in the middle 20% of the country for household income and our unemployment rate was 7.5% in August. It was a lot poorer when I was a kid.

I would also assume gas dollars are spread widely as virtually every landowner in the county who wanted to sign a lease did. Landmen screwed a bunch of people early on, underpaying for lease rights, but the real money for landowners is in royalties. The minimum royalty in PA is 12.5%. To preserve its rural character, Susquehanna County has a minimum lot size of 10 acres, which was implemented years ago when dairy farms were being broken up due to retirements and the milk price collapse. I assume any land, presently in a gas unit, purchased from that time on is large enough to produce significant income.

Our county has long been dependent on folks working outside its borders so I'm glad to see local truckers and heavy equipment operators working locally. I'm concerned about the impact on our water, but fracking technique has improved since 1982 and so far as I've seen the mistakes made around here have been more in the handling of the bulk materials not so much in the drilling process itself. We should be taxing these guys at a rate high enough to cover regulatory oversight. The road issue is interesting because a lot of dirt roads have been improved by the drilling companies so they can access remote properties, but that should probably be formalized as well.