Romney Heads to Shale Country

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

April 5, 2012 | 10:19 AM

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresses journalists during a conference in Washington, D.C.

The race is on in Pennsylvania. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will visit a frack water withdrawal site in Wyoming County today. Romney plans to tour Mountain Energy Services, a company formed by two brothers to serve the Marcellus Shale drilling boom in northeast Pennsylvania. Mountain Energy supports gas drilling operations with frack water deliveries, and trucking needs.
In a press release issued by Mountain Energy, the company’s owner Ryan Andrews says he wants Romney to see the economic benefits shale gas development has brought to the region.

“We want Mr. Romney to see how the natural-gas production industry has created many secure jobs for locals in our region by showing him our operations and introducing him to our dedicated employees,” Ryan Andrews said.

Three years ago, Andrews says Mountain Energy Services started with 10 trucks and “a handful of employees.” Today, the company has 150 trucks and more than 200 employees.
With Romney’s victories in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin, he is on his way to become the Republican nominee.