NORWICH – Ken Smith, executive director of the Chenango County Cooperative Extension, will be recognized as one of the 2011 David J. Allee and Paul R. Eberts Community and Economic Vitality Award recipients today at Cornell University.
According to Cornell’s Community and Regional Development Institute, the award is given in recognition of innovative research and development of creative solutions to community issues. This year, Smith and his colleagues of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marcellus Shale Team will be awarded for their work in providing accurate, research based information about the process of natural gas drilling and its implications.
Smith said he is only one small part of a larger group of award recipients. The knowledge and research that the team collected shares both ends of a heated argument and their ability to present this data will be the primary focus at tonight’s ceremony.
The team began its work in 2008 and has been actively involved in teaching the health concerns and the economic opportunities associated with natural gas drilling. Smith joined the team in December, 2009 and was actively referred to for information regarding the agricultural impact of the process. The goal, he said, was to protect agricultural resources. The team offered an array of perspectives surrounding some of the complex issues of natural gas from both industrial and agricultural sources.
“When I began here,” said Smith, “I realized that natural gas was going to be a big issue.” Smith added that he and his colleagues heard the various opinions of natural gas drilling in the area and collected “a body of knowledge that needed to be shared with Cornell.”
According to Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, different perspectives are needed to make educated decisions and Smith has done a great job in offering such perspectives, he said.
“Ken has been very diligent in sourcing out current data,” said Vickers. He added that Smith has taken the objective opinions from both the Chenango County Farm Bureau and from local industries. “This is a never-ending process to provide accurate and up-to-date information to those making life changing decisions,” Vickers said, “decisions that not only affect their lives, but also the lives of their family and the community.”
“This has been one of the most difficult topics of my career,” Smith said. He said that striking a balance between both sides of the natural gas argument is an ongoing effort.
Chenango County has much to offer statewide, said Smith. “To me, this award represents an opportunity to bring Chenango County to the state as a whole,” he said. “It bridges the experience of Chenango County to the rest of the state.”
The research compiled by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marcellus Shale Team can be seen on the institute’s website, naturalgas.cce.cornell.edu.