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Dozens of Lancaster and Lebanon county residents will soon have a chance to ask Penn State researchers about natural gas development in their communities.
The university on Tuesday will begin hosting a series of informal education classes designed to share information about energy development and also conduct research about how people deal with change.
Penn State will host 10 Marcellus Shale classes from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24, March 3, 17, 24 and 31, and April 7 and 14 at the Farm and Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road in Lancaster.
"We're using Marcellus Shale as the context to educate because it's what's creating change in Pennsylvania at this time. We are not promoting Marcellus Shale development or any other development," said Terry Noll, project coordinator and research assistant at the university's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
The center is a division of Penn State's Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and is funded by the federal government, not the oil and gas industry, she said.
Upcoming classes in Lancaster are part of a $2.5 million research study funded by a National Science Foundation grant.
"The goal of the project is to investigate and provide informal education for adults, learn how to engage people, how to use information, educate about the science of energy development and learn how people deal with large change coming into their community," Noll said.
Penn State has also held classes in Clearfield, Clinton, Indiana and Sullivan counties.
The university chose Lancaster County because of high opposition there to a planned pipeline.
Of all the university's stops, Lancaster classes have generated the most interest and registration is full, Noll said.
The scope of the federally funded study caps the class at 50 participants, and a confidentiality clause prevents her from releasing their names.
Some of those participants are from Lebanon County, another area where residents demonstrated opposition to pipelines.
In the Penn State classes, they will not hear political arguments. The sessions focus on science, Noll said.
That might be tough to accept for local residents who repeatedly ask if Marcellus Shale drilling or pipeline development is safe for Pennsylvanians and the environment.
"We do not take a position. Science can't say 100 percent this is going to happen or not going to happen. There's risk to every form of resource development, not just fracking," Noll said.
"For most people it's a matter of how you evaluate that risk, the cost-benefit analysis, how they want to live their lives. We could go back generations to living without electricity. That would minimize risk. But most people are not willing to do that," she added.
The classes will examine how to manage risks, energy choices, resources, cost, geology, and the impact to communities, economics and the environment.
"We'll be looking at what choices are out there and how to have a civil dialogue around contentious issues," Noll said.
The classes also teach how to discern between fact and opinion, explaining the difference between researched news reports and industry or activist propaganda.
After classes in other counties, Noll has noticed some common themes.
"People always say they never realized how complex energy development is, that you really have to delve into it to make decisions about resource development. Other people say they'll never read an article the same way again. Overall, the goal is see people continue to be engaged," she said.