MANDEVILLE, LA (AP) — A tumultuous spring and summer of public meetings will culminate Wednesday in a public hearing on Helis Oil & Gas Co.'s application to drill a fracking well in St. Tammany Parish.
The Department of Natural Resources is holding the hearing at Lakeshore High School after getting requests from the town of Abita Springs and the activist group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany.
During the hearing, The New Orleans Advocate’s Faimon A. Roberts III reports both sides will be allowed to call witnesses, present evidence and cross-examine each other's witnesses. Members of the public also will be given an opportunity to speak before the staff from the Office of Conservation.
No decision will be made at the hearing. Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh at some point will issue a decision on the drilling permit.
