Mary Esch is reporting for the Associated Press natural gas training is now being offered in and around Binghamton. High-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been under review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation since 2008. In anticipation of the shale gas boom spreading northward from Pennsylvania, she writes, educators in New York have begun training programs that will enable workers to fill entry-level positions. Broome Community College is set to begin a three-week program to certify roustabouts, or general laborers on a drillling rig. The median salary for a roustabout is $38,000 per year, but with overtime compensation can be much higher. Broome is one of five community colleges in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York participating in a coalition called ShaleNET. Funded by a three-year, $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, ShaleNET focuses on recruiting, training and placing people in high-priority, entry-level natural gas jobs. Esch reported earlier this month on New York's first shale gas-drilling job fair, held at Broome, located "in the sweet spot of the Marcellus Shale region." More than 700 people turned out in the hope of securing a job lead. Read the full Associated Press story.