WMBS host claims censorship

A longtime talk-show host at Uniontown’s WMBS (590) claims that he was kicked off the air for criticizing natural gas drilling.

According to the Post-Gazette, Bob Foltz says he was fired on April 20 after one of his guests talked about possible contamination in the water supply in Carmichaels, Greene County.

WMBS management denies that Foltz was fired over his viewpoints and called his departure “a leave of absence.”

Just a month before Foltz’s show went off the air, WMBS began airing a two-hour weekly talk show paid for by two companies in the drilling industry.

Foltz, who generally leans conservative, has hosted “Let’s Talk” on WMBS for 10 years, and had recently been speaking with other guests who claim that increased natural gas drilling in Western Pennsylvania — particularly the chemicals used for drilling in Marcellus shale — is causing environmental problems.

The newspaper reports that 169 permits have been issued to natural gas drilling companies in Fayette County in the past two years.