Pennsylvania farmers to speak with locals about fracking

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Two farmers from Pennsylvania, Ron Gulla and Terry Greenwood, are traveling all the way to Southern Illinois to speak to local residents about their firsthand experiences with a type of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

The controversial type of gas drilling is expected to begin in Saline and Wayne counties this year.

At the free presentations, Greenwood and Gulla will relate how fracking affected their farms and share their knowledge of what is happening in western Pennsylvania, including water contamination, property destruction, livestock deaths, health impacts on people and air and noise pollution, as a result of this type of gas drilling, according to a press release from the organization Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing our Environment.

The presentation in Wayne County will be at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Foundation Hall at Frontier Community College, 2 Frontier Drive, in Fairfield. The Saline County presentation will be at 2 p.m. May 5 at the First Presbyterian Church Annex, 21 W. Locust St., in Harrisburg.

The events are being sponsored by Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing our Environment. Further information can be found by calling them at (618) 528-3344 or by visiting the Internet site www.DontFractureIllinois.org.