Posts Tagged ‘N.Y.’

College in Williamsport preparing workers

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILLIAMSPORT – Like many of his classmates, Mike Harris already has a job in electricity-generation lined up for when he graduates this spring.

The only problem is it will require the Dalton native to relocate to Illinois.

Soon enough, though, future students in these same welding classes at Pennsylvania College of Technology could be in a curriculum that funnels them into local jobs with natural gas drillers working in the Marcellus Shale region.

The Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at the college is in its early infancy, only envisioned late last year and opened earlier this year, but plans are for it to expand quickly.

A collaboration with the Penn State Cooperative Extension, the center will identify the industry’s work force needs and respond with education tracks that train people for those jobs, said Jeffrey Lorson, an industrial technology specialist at the college who’s running the training center.

“With the escalation and the things with the Marcellus, there was clearly a need in the work force,” he said. “We knew we had a tremendous fit to support the industry.”

The jobs are certainly here, Harris said, and there aren’t enough local workers. “They can’t find anybody,” he said about drillers.

Lorson’s family has a motel in Bainbridge, N.Y., near Binghamton, and the place is constantly packed. “There’s guys coming from all over the place” to work for the drilling companies, he said.

He felt Penn College graduates would be “competitive” for jobs in the industry, which could feed off the college for workers in fields from welding to heavy machinery operation.

“The center has the potential to provide very meaningful training options for local residents,” said Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. Certain skills, such as building and maintaining infrastructure and inspecting gauges and other moveable parts, “are all skills that could very easily find a home up in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.

“If the industry grows as we expect it to, there will be long-term career opportunities.”

While he plans to enjoy traveling while starting his career, Harris said he’s looking ahead to hometown job security.

“I feel very confident, and I’d love to stay in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but right now as things are starting to take off, I think it’s easier for me to leave and get some experience,” he said.

The center could also help students outline career paths, an idea Harris has already considered. He’s planning to become certified in visual inspections.

“It keeps me out in the field, but it’s managerial,” he said. “You’re in the middle, which is pretty much where I wouldn’t mind being.”

See more photos of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at www.timesleader.com.

Copyright: Times Leader

ALBANY, N.Y.

Marcellus Shale gets upgraded sevenfold

A geologist says the Marcellus Shale region of the Appalachians could yield seven times as much natural gas as he earlier estimated, meaning it could meet the entire nation’s natural gas needs for at least 14 years.

Penn State University geoscientist Terry Engelder says in a phone interview Monday that he now estimates 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be recovered from the 31-million-acre core area of the Marcellus region, which includes southern New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio.

Engelder and geologist Gary Nash of the State University of New York at Fredonia touched off a gas rush in the region last January with their study estimating that the Marcellus could yield as much as 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

LANCASTER, Pa.

Man gets 2 DUIs in five-hour period

Police say a central Pennsylvania man was arrested on drunken driving charges twice in less than six hours.

Michael Hufford’s first arrest came just before 11 a.m. Sunday. Police say his car hit the back of a stopped vehicle in Manheim Township, Lancaster County.

Hufford was arrested for suspected DUI. After he was processed, he was released to his girlfriend.

Hufford was arrested again just before 4 p.m. Police say the second accident happened after he turned left in front of another vehicle.

The 50-year-old was arraigned by a magisterial district judge after the second crash. Police say he was sent to Lancaster County Prison.

YORK, Pa.

Man kills wife, toddler and then himself

A suburban York man killed his wife and 2-year-old son before committing suicide inside their home, police said Monday.

John D. Goodman, 39, did not leave a note before he shot his wife, Julia, multiple times and shot their son, Langon, early Sunday morning, said Spring Garden Township Chief George Swartz.

Swartz said investigators were still trying to determine what happened and why. He said there is no evidence that the couple was divorcing or that any protective orders were in place.

York County Coroner Barry Bloss Sr. told the York Dispatch that John Goodman may have been recently laid off from his job as a surveyor in Lancaster. Bloss also said his office would try to confirm reports that 39-year-old Julia Goodman was pregnant.

The Goodmans had lived in the neighborhood near York Hospital since 2003, and before that they lived elsewhere in Spring Garden Township.

ERIE, Pa.

Freight-train death perplexes coroner

A Pennsylvania coroner is hoping toxicology tests and more investigation will help him figure out why a man was killed by a passing freight train.

Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook says the body of 23-year-old Timothy Villa, of Erie, was found near the CSX railroad tracks in the city Sunday about 2 a.m.

Cook says the investigation indicates Villa may have left a Halloween party shortly before he was struck and killed by the train. An autopsy Sunday confirmed the man died of massive trauma.

Cook says police are trying to contact the train’s crew. Cook is waiting for toxicology tests on Villa’s body before ruling whether the death was an accident, but says it does not appear to be foul play.

Copyright: Times Leader