Some people living in Rockingham County want their questions and concerns heard before a company is allowed to drill for natural gas in the Bergton area.

The county leaders say they're still researching and have not made a final decision about the drilling.

Horizontal drilling creates a small hole about a mile into the ground and blasts a mainly fresh water and sand mixture to break up the marcellus shale, releasing natural gas.

Bergton resident Bruce Ritchie is organizing an informational meeting for Rockingham County residents and says he thinks there are still too many issues, including the lack of federal regulations, with natural gas drilling.

"We need to slow down. Slow down and do this right. And we can learn from the mistakes and the headaches of other states. Because we're not the first state to go through this," says Ritchie.

From property rights with force pooling to the character of Bergton, Ritchie says things could really change.

"And we'll have to deal with a lot of trucks going through, it'll affect the roads, might deteriorate the roads. And there's just a lot of issues," says Ritchie.

Carizzo Marcellus LLC Vice President Richard Hunter says he understands some residents may be hesitant.

"We've really made it quite a science in being able to control the environmental impact both on the surface location and the subsurface," says Hunter.

And when it comes to water contamination, Hunter says they have not found any instances of contamination from the fluids used to harness the natural gas.

"And all these fluids are collected in contained areas and then they're trucked away from the drill site to a licensed depository location," says Hunter.

And Ritchie says he hopes residents take their time with drilling leases to make sure they're protected and ready to drill.

"You don't turn a rural area like this into an industrial complex without some headaches," says Ritchie.

Ritchie says one of his main concerns is that the company started getting leases to drill signed by residents before the public hearing.

He's afraid many people who signed them did not take a close look at their property and mineral rights.

The informational meeting will be held March 18th at the Bergton School at 6:30 p.m.