The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce plays to the business friendly crowd, a crowd that met Wednesday with a clear agenda in support of gas drilling in the Southern Tier. Our Neil St. Clair has the story.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- The scene Monday in Albany was divided as protesters on both sides of the gas drilling issue battled to be heard.

Tuesday's forum, sponsored by the Binghamton Chamber, was a bit less contentious, with a clearly partisan room in favor of gas drilling.

"I'd like to see this get moving," said Chris Ostrowsky, a Conklin landowner. "New York is in dire need of something to go on here and it's right under our feet, literally."

Ostrowsky, like many landowners, could profit handsomely if natural gas is tapped from the vast Marcellus Shale region, located in part in the Tier. A series of speakers at Tuesday's forum said this is the area's best hope for a bright economic tomorrow.

"We're talking billions of dollars of economic activity, you're talking millions in state and local revenue. I think it's going to transform the region," said Rayola Dougher, a senior economic advisor with the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group.

Despite the economic upside there have long been concerns that the drilling process, especially one known as hydrofracking, could produce negative environmental results. To that end, despite the supportive crowd, there was still mild skepticism.

"Some of the pictures I've seen, there's been decimated roadsides, bastardization of the site and no reclamation of the site," said Wayne Jennings, president of Jennings Environmental.

For the gas industry these are just myths belied by overt regulation.

"The truth is, our industry is one of the most regulated in the country," said Brian Grove, Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s business development director. "There's hardly a piece of equipment we move or a process we do that is not overseen."

For Ostrowsky, it's a concern of patriotism.

"It's about the nation. This is our soil we're drilling in, we're not doing it somewhere else. Why not do it here?" Ostrowsky asked.

Still no clear word on when or if gas drilling will be approved in the Empire State.

The DEC in New York has been looking into and taking public comment on environmental concerns. Several more forums on both sides of the issue are expected in the coming months.