SHAMOKIN - A Northumberland County commissioner said talks are continuing with officials in the natural gas industry to construct a filtration plant in the area to clean water from former coal lands in Coal and Mount Carmel townships and then transport it to the Northern Tier area of the state to be used in the Marcellus Shale gas drilling project.
During a recent interview with The News-Item, Commissioner Stephen Bridy said he has three "local contacts" in the natural gas industry who have talked about constructing a filtration plant in the SEEDCO-Coal Township Industrial Park to clean water from former coal lands. He said the water would then be transported in tankers by rail to be used in the Marcellus Shale gas drilling project.
On Wednesday, Bridy said talks about the project are progressing, but was unable to give any other details.
He also mentioned three other projects that he is working on to attract jobs to the area, but couldn't release any details about those plans.
One of those projects involves a plan he claims could bring up to $28 million in revenue to the county.
Bridy said he was approached by representatives of a corporate conglomerate he worked with during the past decade as a consultant about a no-risk program involving leveraging the county's assets for a potential profit to the county of $15 million to $28 million.
Fellow Commissioners Rick Shoch and Vinny Clausi remain skeptical about Bridy's plan.