Canton To Study Drilling On Municipal Lands

The City of Canton is planning to hire a consultant to look into leasing city-owned property for gas and oil drilling. The city law director says the mayor may hire a consultant for up to 15-thousand dollars without city council approval, but cannot lease mineral rights without council approval. Consultants will be hired to research deeds and compile information on city properties, including how close they are to underground water sources. Opponents of the plan say they are concerned about water contamination and health problems from the drilling technique called fracking.