Community meeting planned

A community meeting concerning the potential development of Oil Sands in northwest Alabama will be held at the Tuscumbia Railway Museum and Roundhouse on Tuesday, June 24, at 6:30 p.m. All citizens in northwest Alabama are encouraged to attend this important meeting.

Oil sands, generally speaking, are rocks that contain bitumen, which is the lowest grade of crude oil. The largest oil sands resource in Alabama is the Hartselle Sandstone. The Hartselle Sandstone is found throughout a 70-mile-long, approximately east-west belt that extends from central Morgan County westward through Lawrence County to the far west-central part of Colbert County. The outcrop belt (surface exposures) of the Hartselle Sandstone is generally less than 5 miles wide, north to south. South of the surface exposures, bituminous Hartselle Sandstone dips to the south into the subsurface and underlies other rock units at increasing depths.

The meeting’s objective is to provide citizens with factual, science-based information relevant to this issue. Citizens will also learn more about the status of Alabama’s development of regulations for this industry.

The Geological Survey of Alabama and the State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama along with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will give presentations discussing the development of regulations for the Oil Sands Industry in Alabama. Also, after the presentations each of these agencies will have a designated table and will have representatives available to answer individual questions from the public.