What effect can gas drilling have on local governments?
Based recent natural gas drilling that has occurred in other areas, impacts to local communities can generally be broken down into two categories: direct impacts from the industrial development itself, and indirect impacts from the new workers, residents, and development. The severity of impacts will largely depend on how much development occurs near your community. The direct impacts from the industrial development can include damage to local roadways by heavy truck traffic, increased use of local sewer and water infrastructure for drilling operations, and the increased use of other local services such as ambulance, fire, and police services due to emergences that can arise at remote industrial locations. Impacts to the environment can also burden local governments if the burden of regulation and declining property values fall on local governments. If the proper fees and bonds are in place for the use of these direct municipal services, local governments can recoup many of the expense
