Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group Updates
February 27, 2014
* For articles and updates or to just vent, visit us on facebook;
* To view permanent documents, past updates,
reports, general information and meeting information
http://westmorelandmarcellus.blogspot.com/
* Our email address: westmcg@gmail.com
*
To discuss candidates: http://www.facebook.com/groups/VoteProEarth/
* To contact your state
legislator:
For the email address, click on the envelope
under the photo
* For information on PA state gas legislation
and local control: http://pajustpowers.org/aboutthebills.html-
.
WMCG
Thank You
* Thank you to contributors to our Updates: Debbie Borowiec, Lou
Pochet, Ron Gulla, the Pollocks, Marian Szmyd, Bob Donnan, Gloria Forouzan, Elizabeth
Donahue, and Bob Schmetzer.
Calendar
***
WMCG Meeting We meet the second Tuesday of every month at
7:30 PM in Greensburg- next meeting March 11.
Email Jan for directions. All are very welcome to attend.
***Feb 28 Public /Town Hall- Injection wells,
earthquakes, toxic frack waste impoundments, and a Community bill of Rights.
Youngstown, Ohio. Videos and Presentations at the
Unitarian Church 1105
Elm St 7-9pm
TAKE Action!!
***Letters to the editor are important
and one of the best ways to share
information with the
public. ***
Everyone Must Do This To
Have An Impact
EQB Comments
Many of us braved the cold to testify at hearings in
Indiana and Washington PA. Others attended hearings in other parts of the
state. The industry is out in full force. They have paid employees at every
hearing-actually they have the same people sometimes reading the same
statements at every hearing. It is up to us, to you, to speak for the air and
water quality and property values that we feel need to be protected. My award
for most unbelievable comment of the night goes to the representative from
Dogwood Energy who said that the regs should be established without the input
of citizens’ groups. So
apparently the democratic process to drillers means only the industry speaks
and they write their own rules.
We have more wells going
in every day. I receive, on average, a call a week from a distraught area
resident whose neighbor sold out to the industry. PA doesn't have a moratorium
as do more cautious states, so these regs are critical. Zoning can help to
restrict the placement of gas operations but not the "how they operate
aspect”. If fracking occurs anywhere near you, these are the regulations that
govern much of that process, that, for example, allow a toxic frack pit near
your home or school or radioactive drill cuttings to be stored or buried on
site.
The PA oil/gas regs were never meant to
regulate fracking. They were written for shallow gas wells and do not protect
the public. Below are links to comments. You can rephrase and add your thoughts
to send in a statement of your concerns. jan
To view what other people wrote thus far: http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/full_list.aspx?IRRCNo=3042&type=1
To view what we presented:
Online Comments
The public is being invited to submit comments to the EQB regarding the
proposed rulemaking by March 14. Along with their comments, people can submit a one-page
summary of their comments to the EQB. Comments, including the one page summary,
may be submitted to EQB by accessing the EQB’s Online Public Comment System at http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/RegComments.
Written Comments
Written comments and summaries should
be mailed to Environmental Quality Board, P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA
17105-8477.
The summaries and a formal
comment and response document will be distributed to the EQB and available
publicly prior to the meeting when the final rulemaking will be considered.
Email Comments
Online
and email comments must also be received by the EQB on or before March 14.
If an acknowledgement of comments submitted online
or by email is not received by the sender within two business days, the
comments should be re-sent to the EQB to ensure receipt.
To view materials for the
proposed regulation, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click
the “Proposed Oil and Gas Regulations” button.
Petitions to DEP To Ban Frack Pits:
***1. Petition From Penn
Environment
Here
in Pennsylvania, fracking is one of the biggest threats to our communities and
our environment. In 2012 alone, the
fracking industry created 1.2 billion gallons of fracking wastewater--laced
with cancer-causing chemicals, contaminated with radioactivity, and polluted
with heavy metals.
This
toxic waste sits in exposed pits, which often leaches into our rivers and
contaminates our air.
It's
both disgusting and frightening.
The DEP is taking public comment
right now on a proposal to manage this fracking waste. This is our best chance
to end this dangerous practice and limit fracking's damage.
Submit
your comment right now to tell the DEP: Ban all fracking waste pits today.
When a wastewater pit caught fire
in Hopewell Township, flames shot 100 feet into the air and block smoke spread
across the countryside. It was so bad that days later, nearby residents still
couldn’t stay in their homes.
With
stories like this, you would think these toxic sites would have already been
banned. Leaks from pits can contaminate drinking water supplies, and
evaporation of these chemicals threatens our air quality. The pollutants pose risks for acute and
chronic health impacts, from dizziness to rashes and even cancer.
There's
no way to get around it: These pits are dangerous.
We need thousands of
Pennsylvanians telling the DEP to ban them all.
Take
action now to ban all toxic and dangerous fracking waste pits in Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
David
Masur
PennEnvironment
Research & Policy Center Director
PS.
If you have friends or family who are concerned about fracking, please forward
this to them. We need to get 10,000 comments in to the DEP by the end of the
comment period if we’re going to ban all fracking waste pits.
***2. Petition by Ron to Ban Frack Pits To the DEP Environmental
Quality Board
Hello
everyone,
Frack pits are a source of toxic
waste-waters and cancer causing agents and pollute our environment through
leakage, spillage, and evaporation of toxic VOCs, thus contaminating water,
soil, and the air we breathe.
Frack
pits are a danger to animal, plant, and human life and have no place in our
Commonwealth.
In
place of the frack pit, all gas operators should be required to use some form
of a closed loop system for waste storage.
We,
the undersigned, demand an end to the open impoundment or frack pit and demand
PA place the health and welfare of its citizens above all other interests.
That's why I created a petition
to PA DEP's Environmental Quality Board, which says:
"
This petition will be forwarded to the PA DEP's Environmental Quality Board
that is accepting comments on proposed regulations and will demand an end to
open impoundments or frack pits as they are commonly known. "
Will you sign my petition? Click here to add your name:
Thanks!
Ron Slabe
***WESA Public
Radio
from Briget Shields
WESA Pittsburgh's public radio is
having their listener drive now. Instead
of renewing my membership I have sent this statement. I think it would help if
others vocalize our mission to divest in anyone promoting the fossil fuel
industry. Here is my pledge
comment. Don't know if they will print
it in the comment section I posted it in but wanted to share in hopes others
will relay the message. You can promote your own organization and put it in
your own words but while the membership drive is going on is a good time to let
them know we are not happy with the Range Resource ads we are constantly
hearing.
I
have always supported public broadcasting. BUT....there is a well fire in Greene
County where people are being exposed to toxic fumes, 300,000 people in WV
living with contaminated water from chemicals used in the fossil fuel industry
including fracking , hundreds of people without any water for over 5 years
because of the fracking industry in SWPA thousands in PA. Are you reporting
this? NO. Imagine my surprise when I hear many times a day your station
promoting the very industry that is the cause of this destruction.
Instead
I am giving my membership dollars to those organizations that promote clean
renewable energy and those that work to educate the public to stop the toxic
fossil fuel industry like: Shalefield
Stories, Marcellus Protest, PennEnvironment, Sierra Club, The Thomas Merton
Center.
Public broadcasting like all media outlets is
failing us.
Briget
shields
WESA Facebook page
***Petition to Protect Deer Lake Park Allegheny County
Please
sign the CREDO petition to stop the fracking of Allegheny County’s Deer Lake
Park. You and over 3,500 others are making a difference. Your voices are being heard on the Allegheny
County Council.
In order to keep you informed of
events, as they are about to unfold in the County Council, I ask that you take
the time to visit the Protect Our Parks web page.
By signing up at Protect Our Parks you’ll
provide POP with the ability to mobilize Allegheny County residents who’ve
already signed the CREDO petition. I hope you can do this today!
In the coming weeks, the
Allegheny County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald intends to present legislation to
the County Council that would enable the leasing of gas rights in Deer Lakes
Park to notorious drilling operator, Range Resources - the only driller to submit
a proposal to the County.
We certainly appreciate the
support of non-county residents as well. I invite you to sign on to the Protect
Our Parks page too! However, the County
Council has stated that they will give greater weight to the opinions of the citizens
of Allegheny County. It looks like it
will be a very close vote. If you live
outside of the county and have friends and/or family in Allegheny County, I
hope that you will reach out to them and ask them to sign up with Protect Our
Parks.
Widely
circulating the Protect Our Parks link on social media is also very much
appreciated.
I am depending upon you to help put a stop to
the fracking of our county parks.
I do hope you will continue to be a part of
this effort. Please, go to the Protect
Our Parks link today - sign up and, together, we’ll protect our parks!
Sincerely,
Douglas Shields
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania http:
P.S. Be sure to visit the PROTECT OUR PARKS homepage! http://www.protectparks.org
State Groups Oppose Fracking Our State
Forests.
From Clean Water Action
As
you are probably aware during Corbett's budget address he proposed balancing
the budget by over turning the moratorium on new gas drilling leases for state
parks and forests.
Please
find attached an organizational sign on letter we are working on with several
other groups. The letter will be sent to all legislators urging them to oppose
this proposal and any budget that contains it.
Steve
Hvozdovich
Clean
Water Action- Pennsylvania
Marcellus
Shale Coordinator
February 11, 2014
************************
WMCG Signed
on to the following letter:
Dear Legislators:
The
undersigned organizations urge you to oppose
Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed plan to end the existing moratorium on gas
leasing in state forests and ask you to vote against any budget that
incorporates revenue from that plan.
Reopening state forests to new gas development fills a one-time budget
gap with decades of risk and the vast majority of Pennsylvanians oppose it.
Pennsylvania
state forests are recreational and ecologic gems as well as leading drivers of
our tourism economy. Our state forests consist of more than 2.2 million acres
of pristine wilderness that are home to a variety of animals including black
bear, wild turkey, native brook trout, and rare birds. Parks and forests
offer opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing, mountain biking,
horseback riding and is one of the best sources for hunting and fishing.
Governor
Corbett’s proposal to balance the 2014 budget by opening up our state forests
to further gas leasing threatens both the environmental and economic benefits
our forests provide. His proposal would end the moratorium on new leases for
natural gas drilling former Governor Ed Rendell put in place. Former Governor
Rendell issued the moratorium in October 2010 because he determined that more
forest drilling would “jeopardize fragile ecosystems.”
The
public agrees with former Governor Rendell’s decision. A poll in September 2013
by Mercyhurst University found that 67% of Pennsylvanians thought gas
extraction should not occur in state parks. A more recent January 2014 poll by
Franklin and Marshall College found that 68% of Pennsylvanians oppose
additional gas development in state forests. Governor Corbett’s proposal is an
affront to the wishes of Pennsylvanians. Advancement and support for this
proposal would signal that our government is not listening and that the opinions
of citizens don’t matter.
Gas
exploration and drilling causes impact to the state forests. There is no such
thing as no-impact drilling. Even proximity to drilling puts our forests at
risk. Pollution respects no boundaries. Accidents with natural gas drilling
operations like spills of toxic wastewater, explosions, and methane migration
have occurred across the Commonwealth. Additional drilling will mean noise and
light disturbance from heavy machinery, seismic exploration, construction of
new roads and pipelines, and increased truck traffic. These potential dangers and activities
increase the risk of upsetting the natural habitat of animals, disrupting the
peace that is associated with enjoying nature and threatening the health of
nearby families. The Commonwealth has
leased nearly half of the 1.5 million acres of forest it owns that overlays
with the Marcellus shale. Many of the leased land have yet to be drilled. Have
we not already leased enough land for the natural gas industry? According to a
study the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR)
finished in 2010, all of the unleased forest land is in ecologically sensitive
areas or cannot be accessed without cutting through ecologically sensitive
areas. According to former DCNR Deputy
Secretary John Quigley, the Rendell administration scoured the state forest for
tracts that were not ecologically sensitive and could still be leased. “We
found all the needles in the haystack at that time, said Quigley. I don't know
where there are additional tracts like that.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently
reminded us that we have an obligation to protect our forests for future
generations. Once the integrity of our
state forests are destroyed there is no turning back. Our state forests were established as sacred places for the enjoyment of
all and the conservation of the natural environment—not as future
industrial sites used to fill short term revenue needs. We need to preserve
these places for future generations as they were preserved in the past for us.
Again, we ask you to oppose Governor
Corbett’s proposal to lease our state forests for natural gas drilling and any
budget proposal that includes it. We look forward to any comments or questions
you may have on this subject and offer our support to any leader standing in
opposition to this irresponsible and irrevocable action.
Respectfully,
Steve Hvozdovich, Marcellus Shale Campaign
Coordinator
Clean Water Action
Josh McNeil, Executive Director, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania
Frack Links
***Concerned about the air quality in your community due to
drilling?—Speaker Available
Southwestern Pennsylvania
Environmental Health Project will provide a professional speaker if you host a
community meeting. “Tyler Rubright is available throughout the next couple of
weeks to come to meetings and present and/or help to facilitate and answer any
questions.”
Contact Jessa Chabeau
***To sign up for notifications of
activity and violations for your area:
*** List of the Harmed--There
are now over 1600 residents of Pennsylvania who have placed their names on the
list of the harmed when they became sick after fracking began in their area. http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/
*** Link to the Duquesne Seminar:
Mediasite presentation -- Facing the
Challenges Conference, Duquesne University, November 2013
List of Presentations:
Bain - Establishing a
Water Chemistry Baseline for Southwest Pennsylvania: The Ten Mile Creek Case
Bamberger, Oswald - Impacts of gas
drilling on human and animal health: updates
Boufadel - The potential for air
migration during pneumatic drilling: Recommendations for best performance
Brittingham - The effects of shale
gas development on forest landscapes and ecosystems
Brown - Understanding exposures from
natural gas drilling puts current air standards to the test
Capo, Stewart - Isotopic signatures
as tracers for shale gas fluids
Christopherson - Why local
governments take action in response to shale gas development
Collins - Regulatory structures for
reuse and disposal of shale gas wastewater
Drohan - How fracking technology is
changing landscapes compared to past resource extraction disturbance
Grant - Marcellus shale and mercury:
assessing impacts on aquatic ecosystems
Howarth - Shale gas aggravates global
warming
Ingraffea - A statistical analysis of
leakage from Marcellus gas wells in Pennsylvania
Jackson - Water interactions with
shale gas extraction
Jansa - Gas Rush Stories
Kelso, Malone - Data inconsistencies
from states with unconventional oil and gas activity
Porter - Impact of Marcellus
activities on salamanders and fish populations in the Ten Mile Creek watershed
Rabinowitz - Health complaints, water
quality indicators, and proximity to gas wells in Washington County PA
Robinson - Air Quality and Climate
Issues with Natural Gas Development and Production
Stolz - The Woodlands: a case study
of well water contamination related to unconventional shale gas extraction
Stout - Wheeling, West Virginia
Experience with Frackwater: What "Brinewater" and "Residual
Waste" Trucks are Really Carrying
VanBriesen - Challenges in assessing
effects of shale gas produced water on drinking water treatment plants
Ward - Measuring the human and social
service impacts of natural gas development
Ziemkiewicz - What does monitoring in
the three rivers tell us about the effects of shale gas development?
*** Southwest PA
Environmental Health Has Air Monitors
From
Ryan Grode at the SWPA-EHP:
“I
am beginning a distribution of new air
quality monitors for individuals who are living near any type of drilling
activity. If you know of anyone who
would want to have one of these monitors at their home I would visit them and
set up the monitor for them, then come back in a few weeks to pick up the monitor
and perhaps our nurse practitioner will join me and conduct an exposure
assessment on the family.
If
you hear of anyone who would like help dealing with issues because of drilling
please refer them to me. The office number is 724-260-5504. As mentioned I'll
personally be able to go out to see the family and speak with them and possibly
set up air quality, water quality, and possibly in the future soil quality
monitors.”
From Jan:
At
our last WMCG meeting, SWPA-HEP provided information about the air and water
monitors. “Speck” is the air monitor developed by Carnegie Mellon. It is used
indoors, plugged into an outlet, and detects particulate matter. These monitors
are being used within about 3 miles of fracked wells. The device is not calibrated in a way to be
used in a court of law. It is used to
give the homeowner an idea of the level of pollution they are being exposed to,
and it registers a continuous read. The dylos
monitor could detect 2.5 particulate but had no continuous read.
The
water indicator, called “Catfish”, is
placed in the back of a toilet and measures conductivity which is related to
general water quality of water. Further testing can be done if conductivity is
abnormal.
***Isaak Walton Presentations--
A series of presentations on how shale gas drilling can affect water, air, and
property, as well as citizens' rights and state laws like Act 13.
1 - Ken DeFalla - Henry Enstrom Chapter - Water Quality
2 - Dr John Stolz - The Woodlands
3 - Dr Ben Stout - Charleston MCHM spill
4 - Dr Dorothy Basset - Energy Independence falsehoods
5 - John Smith, Esq - Act 13 Updates
6 - Raina Rippel, SWPA-EHP - Health Effects and Air Testing
7 - Ron Gulla - What to expect from the industry
8 - Linda & David Headley - Living close to drilling
9 - Joe Bezak - Jailed for stopping pollution of his land
Commentary by Carolyn Knapp On Water:
“It is
15 days since my daughter and her family formally complained to the DEP about
the quality and quantity of their only source of water to their home being
damaged. According to state law they have 45 days from that date to make a
determination. So I will be journaling about the progress and writing to DEP
and Chesapeake on a regular basis to remind them of what this situation has
done to my daughter's family and the DEP's and Chesapeake's legal
responsibility to them.”
Fracking News
1. PA Supreme Court Will NOT
Reconsider Act 13 Decision
By Amanda Gillooly
“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced
that it will not reconsider its decision that Act 13 – the state’s set of laws
regulating the Marcellus Shale gas drilling activities – is unconstitutional.
The state DEP and the PUC
last month requested the court reconsider the case following its Dec. 19
decision, which declared key provisions of Act 13 as unconstitutional,
including portions that would have taken zoning control out of the hands of
local government bodies.
The DEP
and PUC hired an outside law firm, Conrad O’Brien, P.C., to handle the filing.
One of the partners of the firm is Christopher Carusone, who joined the firm
after leaving his position as Gov. Tom Corbett’s chief of staff in July.
John
Smith, one of the lead attorneys representing the handful of municipalities
such as Cecil and Peters Township, a non-profit and medical doctor, said he was
pleased with the decision.
Reached Friday, Smith said:
“We are extremely
pleased the court acted as justly and swiftly in denying this unprecedented
request to reconsider. We look forward to litigating the injustices that the
Supreme Court remanded back to the Commonwealth Court.”
One of those issues, he said, relates to gag orders on
medical doctors.
Jordan Yeager, one of the lead
attorneys on the case stated, “The
Corbett Administration wanted a ‘do-over.’ The Supreme Court said ‘no.’ Act 13
violated our fundamental constitutional rights. The court’s landmark ruling
stands and we are all safer as a result.”
Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper
and one of the original petitioners in the case said, “The State has heard the
final word on Act 13 from the highest authority. Once again the primary rights of clean air, water, and a healthy
environment for the people of the Commonwealth have been reiterated. We
hope the Governor and his administration can now finally accept that they were
wrong in their attempt to undo the Court’s deliberations. The governor should
listen to what the Court has said and realize that the Court’s thoughtful,
extensive set of opinions instructs all levels of government to fully adhere to
their ruling. This is a great day for Pennsylvania”.
2. 11,000 Call on Chevron
to Apologize for Responding to Gas Well
Explosion With Pizza Coupons
Berks Gas Truth
“When
one of its gas wells exploded in Dunkard Township, Greene County, PA, killing
one worker, injuring another and sparking a fire that burned for days, Chevron
responded by issuing pizza coupons to area residents. Today, thousands outraged
by the insulting gesture let Chevron’s CEO and staff know that pizza does not
mean never having to say you’re sorry.
In an
apparent effort to smooth ties with the town, last week Chevron delivered
coupons for one large pizza and a two-liter drink to residents affected by the
blast.
Impacted
residents, concerned citizens and grassroots organizations delivered petition
signatures to Chevron’s Smithfield, PA, office in a pizza box with a two-liter
coke. Hundreds of others called and emailed Chevron’s CEO James Watson to place
pizza orders. Many pizza orders were posted to Chevron’s social media pages.
Karen
Feridun, founder of Berks Gas Truth, started organizing a call-in day on social
media that quickly grew to include a petition drive and a delivery of the
signatures gathered to Chevron’s office. Chevron’s ‘let them eat pizza’
attitude toward the people most directly and profoundly impacted by the
explosion speaks volumes about how people in the communities are regarded by
the industry as a whole.
“I’ve never seen a response like this,” said
Feridun. ”People jumped at the chance to show Chevron their disgust at its
wholly inadequate and inappropriate response.”
“Small
gestures like pizza and pop do not change the destruction Chevron has left
behind in Bobtown,” said Veronica Coptis, local resident and Center for
Coalfield Justice community organizer. “If they want to help this community,
how about taking meaningful steps like eliminating dangerous pollution or destructive
truck traffic?”
Environmental
Action and MoveOn.org aided in gathering signatures on the petition. Food &
Water Watch also gathered signatures from its membership.
The idea
to deliver the petition signatures to Chevron’s Smithfield, PA, office came
from Jesse Bacon, a field organizer Environmental Action Pennsylvania. “If
Chevron is really so insensitive as to think pizza can make everything
better—even the death of one of their own employees and a threat to an entire
town—we needed a special delivery to get their attention.”
Kathryn Hilton, community organizer for the
Mountain Watershed Association, organized the petition delivery with partners
the Center for Coalfield Justice, the Harry Enstrom Chapter of the Izaak Walton
League of America, Fayette Marcellus Watch, Marcellus Protest and the Marcellus
Citizens’ Group of Westmoreland County.
“We are
very concerned about exploitation of communities by Chevron and other drilling
companies. Chevron has publicly stated the company is committed to doing it
[unconventional operations] right, but the pizza coupon comes across as very
insincere and dismissive of the serious impacts those living near shale gas
wells face daily,” Hilton stated. “Residents impacted by the explosion in
Greene County, and indeed those impacted by shale gas development across the
region, deserve to be properly compensated. Chevron’s response to this tragedy was completely and wholly
inappropriate. Shame, shame.”
Ken Duffala, a representative with the Izaak
Walton League of America in Greene County, made the following statement
regarding Chevron’s actions:
With the recent tragedy in
Bobtown and Chevron’s pizza and soft drink offer to the public, a lot of
residents feel the offer was hollow. The issue missed is that clean air and
clean water need to be a top concern. I would highly recommend that the family
of the worker who was killed be the highest concern, and that well safety be
strictly enforced so no others lose their lives.
“For
years we’ve witnessed the blatant disregard for public wellbeing that oil and
gas corporations have shown to Pennsylvania communities, through their
inherently dangerous and polluting fracking operations,” said Emily Wurth,
water program director at Food & Water Watch. “But the callous tone-deafness
of Chevron’s pizza campaign in Dunkard Township took even us by surprise.
Chevron’s absurd response to community hardship speaks volumes.”
3. Union Township Homeowners
Want More Local Control
Act 13 ruling buoys
residents near Trax Farm gas well
“On Dec.
19, the Baumgardner family began to hope again. It was a rare good day among
four months of bad days for a family living 500 feet from a Marcellus Shale
well pad.
On that
day, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared unconstitutional parts of Act 13, which
limited local zoning control in favor of a statewide standard guiding where
natural gas wells could be drilled.
Georgann and Gary Baumgardner saw the
ruling as a turning point in their struggle against EQT Corp., which began
drilling in early November on nearby Trax Farm in Washington County, just over
the Allegheny County line. The process has been wafting diesel fumes, noise and
vibrations into their home -- and seems to be consuming their lives.
One day,
their bedroom air monitor flashed orange and the odor drove the family out of
their Cardox Road house for hours. Another day, their daughter Rachel Cecchini,
then eight months pregnant, moved out of the house next door and into a rental
home several miles a way -- abandoning the painted nursery and her 93-year-old
grandfather.
EQT has
built sound walls, put residents up in hotels and offered cash settlements,
while Union Township has debated the merits of residents' complaints and the
company's efforts to address them at many public meetings since drilling began.
Yet the state Supreme Court ruling may alter the outcome of this intransigent
battle.
John Smith, an attorney at Smith Butz who
successfully challenged Act 13's municipal zoning restrictions before the state
Supreme Court, said the court's decision has empowered townships to challenge
gas development.
"Now, the sentiment is not
only can we do something about it but we have an obligation to do something
about it," he said.
Mr. Smith, who serves as solicitor for
Cecil and Peters townships, believes the court's decision paves the way for
townships to regulate not just where a well can be placed but what
environmental controls the operation should have to qualify for a permit.
Mickey
Gniadek lives down the street from the Baumgardners and isn't much bothered by
the noise or the industrial activity except for a bad day in early December
when he went to pick up his mail and saw a white cloud and smelled chemicals in
the air. Then he began to feel as if he couldn't breathe.
"All
of a sudden, my chest feels like it's collapsing on me," he said. He began
to develop red spots on his head, eyes, and cheeks, which took up to two hours
to subside.
The Southwest Pennsylvania
Environmental Health Project, a nonprofit in Washington County that treats patients
who think they've been impacted by oil and gas drilling, has installed air
monitors in several homes on Cardox Road.
Andy Tullai, chairman of Union
Township supervisors who lives on the street, has three air quality monitors
and uses a cell phone app to monitor noise and frequency. When something seems
askew, he fires off an email to the township's zoning officer.
The
noise at his home, about 650 feet from the well site, isn't as intense as at
the Baumgardners, but it's enough to keep the family up at night. "When
you try to sleep you hear this moaning, this grinding," he said. "I
put earplugs in and it still comes through. You can't stop it. You can't stop
that low-frequency noise."
Mr.
Tullai said he and his wife get up in the middle of the night and turn on the
TV to drown out the sound.
"We've
lived here 31 years. They've come at the end of October and they took our lives
away. We want our lives back."
Some residents have turned on
Trax Farm for allowing the well pad so close to their homes, even though
Bob Trax, its president, says he had no say in the matter. "I feel
bad." Mr. Trax said. "I pressured [EQT]. I said please settle, please
pacify, please make do."
On all
sides of the issue, there's a sentiment that there's only so much the company
can do to ameliorate concerns given how close the well pad is to the homes on
Cardox Road.
On Jan.
22, the township called a special meeting to discuss the Trax well. EQT asked
residents to bear with it for the next three weeks while the company finished
drilling 11 vertical wells, after which it would do another baseline sound
survey.
To drill
the horizontal sections would require a different rig, one that EQT community
relations manager Nathanial Manchin promised would be less noisy and have fewer
emissions.
"The [township] supervisors
basically said, that's fine," Mr. Grieb said. "But if there is
[another problem], we're going to shut you down as you figure it out."
The past
week marked four weeks since the township meeting. Mr. Grieb said the latest
word is that the company will finish by Monday.
Tony
Cecchini, the Baumgardners' son-in-law, thinks the hotel vouchers and the sound
studies are a delay tactic, and he doesn't have the time. His baby is due March
6.
EQT also has put compensation offers on the
table of $50,000 per household. The money comes with the condition that
residents will release EQT from any liability having to do with property or
health damage. That's a standard clause for such contracts, noted Ms.
Robertson.
The majority of residents have taken the deal, Ms. Robertson
said.
So far,
Mr. Gniadek has refused. "I can't sign this piece of paper," he says.
"You're basically asking me to give up my life for you -- so next time
something like this happens again ... ."
"One would expect that in light of the
decision, at least some municipalities will become more aggressive in their
attempts to regulate the industry," he said.
Union
Township enacted an oil and gas ordinance in 2010 that set thresholds for
noise. It proposed that well sites would be given conditional permits --
meaning their approval in certain zones would be contingent on meeting the
conditions of the ordinance -- something that Act 13 put on shaky legal ground.
With the Supreme
Court's decision, the township now feels it can use the sound ordinance in its
regulation of EQT's activities at Trax.
For its
part, EQT maintains that it never violated the sound ordinance and that its
data shows the diesel emissions in the air never got to an
"excessive" level, said Natalie Cox, director of corporate
communications. "Some people have settled with themselves that this is
temporary. 'I can get through this. In a year, [it] will be back to normal,'
" she said.
When a
Chevron well in Greene County exploded Feb. 11, EQT officials should have
calmed fears about something like that happening at Trax.
"We're 500 feet
away. Five hundred feet. That's insane," Mr. Gniadek said. "My house
would be gone."
The
Greene County fire, which burned for several days with flames so hot that firefighters
couldn't get within 900 feet of it, has added new urgency to Union Township's
efforts, said its solicitor Dennis Makel.
"That makes you think twice now about having oil and
gas wells close to people's homes," he said.
Mr.
Baumgardner has begun going to other township meetings, waiting until the
comment period and recounting his experience living near a well pad.
"I'm here as a resident," his statement goes.
"What you're hearing is not the truth."
He ends it with this: "Act 13 has been declared unconstitutional.
The power is back with the people."
Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.
Read
more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/marcellusshale/2014/02/23/Pennsylvania-Supreme-Court-ruling-buoys-residents-near-Trax-Farm-well/stories/201402230124#ixzz2u7Y1Rpn0
(Occasionally we should take the time to thank reporters
for their coverage. This article by Litvak deserves a thanks. Jan)
4. Murrysville Parks Referendum
Comment by Wanda
“Just read the news in the Murrysville Star and
this is my response: As a former
resident of Murrysville I can distinctly remember Jim Morrison saying that the
park was left in the zoning area so that the Council would have more control
over what could happen to it. Apparently what that meant was that the council
could wait for the highest bidder. Yes, this is a community issue. The
Murrysville ordinance as I recall, proposes that the site of the well be 600
feet from an existing structure but I am not sure about a property line. When
Greene County had its tragic accident recently, it was a week before anyone
could get within 500 feet of the area. What the Municipality has done is picked
out the "sacrifice zones" and left in a park that belongs to the
citizens of Murrysville and then called for bids on the gas underneath to use
as revenue for the Municipality. Remember this when you consider this petition.”
Murrysville Referendum Petition-Trib Live
“By mid-April,
Murrysville residents should be able to begin circulating a petition to force
referendum vote on leasing the gas rights under Murrysville Community Park.
Council voted to
advertise an ordinance that would put those rights out to public bid. Once that
ordinance is adopted in mid-April, residents can begin collecting signatures on
a petition to create a referendum question regarding potential leases on the
November ballot.
“(Residents) can't
start getting signatures until after we approve the ordinance,” Councilman Dave
Perry said. “We want a citizen's group to run with this right now to start
education and start getting prepared. We want to give as much notice as
possible — we don't want anyone to be surprised on this.”
The ordinance
directs Chief Administrator Jim Morrison to solicit bids for the gas rights
under 260-acres of the park, which is located along Wiestertown Road.
Officials last month said Monroeville-based Huntley & Huntley
offered $2,250 per acre for the right to drill under the park plus 12.5 percent
of the royalties garnered from selling any gas from the property. The company
has acquired hundreds of acres of property near the park, which is in the municipal
drilling district.
Under the municipal home rule charter, residents are permitted to
circulate a petition regarding any ordinance that council enacts, said
Solicitor George Kotjarapoglus. Council can review that petition and change its
mind on the ordinance, or the petition can be submitted to the county to place
a referendum question on the November ballot, he said.
The municipality
isn't permitted to take the lead on any referendum, Kotjarapoglus said.
However, officials can offer education on the issue.
Morrison said he plans to do just that but isn't sure of the best way.
Resident Linda Marts agreed.
“I feel that the
majority of the citizens of Murrysville have no clue what this really would
entail,” said Marts, who has expressed interest in circulating a petition. “We
have a lot of young families with busy kids in all kinds of activities. I don't
think they see the big picture. I think there's a large portion of people who
think that it's all about the money.”
Morrison said one
problem is that people don't understand that it isn't a question of permitting
drilling, but whether the park will be involved.
“This isn't a
drilling issue as much as it is a leasing issue,” Morrison said. “As much as it
may be distasteful to people, the reality is that drilling is going to occur
some time, somewhere in Murrysville.”
5. Head of Exxon Opposes Fracking
Operations In His Neighborhood
Some
Texas communities are pushing back on the fracking issue: Dallas has passed
strict limits on drilling; citizens in Denton are working a ban on drilling
altogether within city limits. And now
joining the list of residents who don’t want some fracking operations in their
backyard? Rex Tillerson, head of ExxonMobil, which is the largest producer of
natural gas in the country.
The
story comes from the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Gilbert, who learned that Tillerson has joined his neighbors in
Bartonville (a Dallas suburb) in a suit against a water tower that would be
used in part for fracking and drilling operations. Tillerson (along with
former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey) is actually showing up in person
at town hall meetings to protest the tower. “He and his neighbors had filed suit to block the tower, saying
it is illegal and would create ‘a noise nuisance and traffic hazards,’ in part
because it would provide water for use in hydraulic fracturing,” Gilbert
reports.
More
from the Wall Street Journal on Tillerson’s objections:
“He told officials
that he and his wife settled in Bartonville to enjoy a rural lifestyle and
invested millions in their property after satisfying themselves that nothing
would be built above their tree line, according to the council’s audio
recording of the meeting.
Allowing
the tower in defiance of town ordinances could open the door to runaway
development and might prompt him to leave town, Mr. Tillerson told the council.
“I cannot stay in a place,” he said, “where I do not know who to count on and
who not to count on.”
Tillerson
has lived in Bartonville since 2001; since then, Gilbert reports, “companies
have fracked at least nine shale wells within a mile of the Tillerson home,
according to Texas regulatory and real-estate records,” including one owned by
ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO.
Tillerson’s lawyer tells the paper that
he’s concerned about the impact of the tower on his property values. You
can read the full story over at the Wall Street Journal.”
6. Hopewell Twp. Homeowners Have Problem With Seismic Testing
“Last
week, a man took Channel 11 inside his home to show us cracks he said were
caused by underground testing. Now, an
entire group of homeowners has come forward to say they have damage, too.
After
Channel 11’s story aired last week, Hopewell Township officials said it has
gotten hundreds of calls from residents wanting answers. State lawmakers said they’ve been getting
calls, too.
Shawna
Selinsky has many questions but said she's getting no answers when it comes to
seismic mapping. She said she grabbed
her phone and started following and recording crews that are doing the work for
Seitel Mapping out of Texas.
The trucks are not only on residential streets but devices are in
people's yards with signs on them, reading “Don't touch or face stiff
penalties.”
“It’s on my property. I
don't know what it is, and I can't touch it.
That's crazy,” said neighbor Perry Sassic.
Hopewell officials have been
battling the company in court. A current
injunction blocks officials from interfering in the seismic testing and blocks
them from talking to residents about it.
The man who contacted Channel 11
about damage last week said a ruptured water line cost him $6,000.
The
company told Channel 11 it will be in the area for the next few weeks. Officials also said they are not in the
business of property damage and that they’ve just come to do a job. “
Channel 11 News Story http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/more-hempfield-twp-homeowners-come-forward-saying-/ndW2F/
7. Chevron Halted Drilling On All PA Gas Wells
Following Explosion
“Chevron
has shut down gas wells in Pennsylvania that it was still drilling or working
to put into production following the deadly explosion and fire on a well pad
last week in Greene County, a state environmental official said today.
Scott
Perry, a DEP deputy secretary, said work on seven well pads with wells that
have been fracked and are awaiting production, or have not yet been fracked,
has been suspended since the Feb. 11 blast in Dunkard.
Mr.
Perry said the DEP asked Chevron to shut down the wells, but the company had
already done so, last week. State environmental inspectors are visiting the
sites, and Chevron is inspecting all of its wells statewide, he said.”
8. Accountability Should Be
Demanded From Chevron
“Let me
ask you a question: In your experience, what would happen to your neighbor –
the guy who lives, say, a half-mile down the road – if he was working on his
property and something exploded?
Like, a
crazy-flames-shooting-into-the sky,
local-first-responders-need-to-set-up-a-perimeter kind of explosion. Before you
answer, let me add this query: What if the explosion sent someone to the
hospital (while another disappeared during the incident)? What if it was the
kind of explosion that burned for days – the kind of explosion that, the day it
happened (in, say, the dead of winter) there was an air quality alert?
Think he
would be taken in for questioning? Think he might get criminally charged? Have
some explaining do?
I do.
For some
folks in Greene County, Pennsylvania, Chevron is that neighbor down the road.
Local
news reports confirm: The explosion happened early Tuesday morning. A half-mile
perimeter has been established by local first responders. The fire is expected
to rage for days. There will not be access to the site for days.
If past practice is any indication, our
state Department of Environmental Protection will, at best, say it is
“investigating.”
Just like it was investigating the various
incidents of billowing black smoke and unexplained, prolonged flaring at one of
the Marcellus Shale compressor station sites in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
And let’s not forget about the DEP’s “investigation” into what internal emails
from a water hauler in Washington County referred to as a “massive” spill that
was the subject of a “cover up.”
A state
official asked the DEP (and Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone’s
office) to refer the case to the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
What’s happened with all that in the past couple of months?
Nothing that the public is, or likely will be, privy to.
Because
it seems like when it comes to environmental accountability for incidents that
may impact the community, the term “it’s under investigation” is the equivalent
of a junk drawer where you throw all the stuff you don’t want to deal with.
Now tell
me: Would you feel safe living 500 feet away from a well? Would you feel your
child was safe if she attended school within 500 feet of a well? What if your
child attended school 2,500 feet away from a drill site? Safe? (If you answered
no, and live in the Fort Cherry School District, for example, it’s just too
bad– because the junior-senior high is 2,500 feet away from the Chiarelli well
pad).
Here’s
my last question: What is it gonna take for people to start getting pissed off
enough by these incidents to demand accountability and transparency?
We live
in a society where a petition to get Justin Bieber deported got 100,000
signatures almost overnight, but there is little righteous outrage over these
kind of incidents. The people who do raise a little bit of hell? They are
criticized for being radical activists.
Caring
about your community, your neighbors and your natural resources – and demanding
accountability from people and corporations that threaten them – is far from
radical activism.
It’s being a good citizen.
And I wish I saw more of it.
P***** off enough to make a phone call or send an email?
To view a page of contacts to start with:
Donations
We are very appreciative of
donations, both large and small, to our group.
With your help, we have handed out thousands of flyers
on the health and environmental effects of fracking, sponsored numerous public
meetings, and provided information to citizens and officials countywide. If you
would like to support our efforts:
Checks to
our group should be made out to the Thomas
Merton Center/Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group. And in the Reminder line
please write- Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group. The reason for this
is that we are one project of 12 at Thomas Merton. You can send your check to:
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group, PO Box 1040, Latrobe, PA, 15650. Or you
can give the check or cash to Lou Pochet or Jan Milburn.
To make a contribution to our
group using a credit card, go
to www.thomasmertoncenter.org. Look for the contribute
button, then scroll down the list of organizations to direct money to. We are
listed as the Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group.
Please
be sure to write Westmoreland Marcellus
Citizens’ Group on the bottom of your check so that WMCG receives the
funding, since we are just one project of many of the Thomas Merton Center. You
can also give your donation to Lou Pochet or Jan Milburn.
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizen’s Group—Mission Statement
WMCG is a project of the Thomas
Merton Society
To raise the public’s general awareness and
understanding of the impacts of Marcellus drilling on the natural environment,
health, and long-term economies of local communities.
Officers:
President-Jan Milburn
Treasurer and Thomas Merton Liason-Lou Pochet
Secretary-Ron Nordstrom
Facebook Coordinator-Elizabeth Nordstrom
Science Advisor-Dr. Cynthia Walter
To receive our news updates, please email jan at westmcg@gmail.com
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