In the story on page 1A concerning the joint resolution by northern panhandle county commissions to “secure maximum investment for this region of West Virginia to the absolute best of their ability”, Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association says he hates to see a north-south struggle over the placement of a natural gas cracker plant.

We understand that no one wants a struggle and infighting never looks attractive. However, we believe this is a potential boon to our area that is worth fighting for.

DeMarco is looking at the issue on a statewide level, as he should. After all he is the executive director of a statewide association. We live here and we have seen our jobs and residents go elsewhere. In this particular instance where it appears two good choices for a plant would be at either the Bayer facility in Proctor or its plant in Institute, the fight becomes even more personal. You might even say there is a rivalry between those two areas as many workers at the local Bayer plant had to relocate to the Kanawha County area in order to remain employed by Bayer.

We don’t like saying goodbye to our friends and neighbors who must uproot their families and move to remain employed. We don’t like seeing people struggle to find jobs locally or to operate on a meager salary.

Yes, an economic boost such as would come from the local creation of a cracker plant is worth fighting for and we applaud our commissioners for joining together in this effort. We now hope the fight continues in a very civil way and our local area can reap the benefits of their efforts.