Scare tactics

To the editor:

I have been following the discussions in the paper regarding drilling for natural gas in Wayne County, PA. Out of curiosity, I went to the website of an organization that opposes drilling. What garbage! First, the website depicts a large fire involving natural gas. The fire depicted occurred at a gas distribution line, not at a natural gas drilling rig. This type of accident can occur when a sloppy contractor fails to contact a municipality to discover the location of any gas lines where he is about to excavate. The fires are routinely put out, and the contractor suffers a fine.

Reading further along, there is a story attributed to Tom Kane that states, “It took just five years for Fort Worth to be transformed from one of the most livable cities in Texas into a beleaguered industrial zone.” What was Tom smoking when he penned those lines? We live only five miles from Fort Worth, and go there often to dine, shop or attend the meetings of the Fort Worth Fly Fishers. Fort Worth today is still a beautiful area that has benefited tremendously from the natural gas drilling boom. “Industrial zone?” Tom, the ladies and gentlemen of the Fort Worth Fly Fishers would like to nominate you as their Damn Yankee of the Year.

Natural gas drilling is considered to be so safe that there are six wells operating right at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. This, despite the fact that there are thousands of flights in and out of Dallas-Fort Worth daily. Perhaps Tom Kane should hop on a plane and visit our “industrial zone.” C’mon down, Tom and smell the flowers, then apologize.

It seems the local people would do well to ignore the squawks of those trying to frighten you regarding the dangers of drilling for natural gas.

Putting the genie back in the bottle

To the editor:

I recently attended a meeting between the Northern Wayne Property Owners Association (NWPOA) and Damascus Citizens for Self Government (DCS), respectively the proponents and opponents of gas drilling in Wayne County. The position of the NWPOA group as stated by their representatives (Jo Clearwater and Marion Schweighofer) is very clear: they want to safeguard the drilling process through their lease agreement and will only go forward with signing leases if those safeguards are in place. The DCS group representatives, Joe Levine and Pat Carullo, feel that the risk of drinking water contamination (even for one farmer) is too high to go forward with any drilling at this time.

In a way, the DCS position makes more sense. If a landowner wants complete protection of their drinking water, all regulations need to be in place at the Federal level before any drilling is done. No matter what a personal lease states, a lawsuit will not be effective against any gas company for pollution of water or air, since gas companies have been Federally exempt from the clean water and air act since 2005. Besides, what does one do once the drinking water is contaminated?

Preventive measures

To the editor:

Signing a lease to drill for gas on your property would be an error of epic proportions. A decision to do so would irreversibly impact our region. Gas companies would gain control over vast tracts of land. The lack of government safeguards would invite serious environmental damage and could impair the health of you, your family and our community.

Here are a few of the measures that need to be taken before any leases are signed or permits issued:

1. Prohibit hazardous chemicals. Given the current regulations, a long list of toxic materials used in the drilling process can end up under our land and in our water.

2. Require full disclosure. Drilling companies are not required to divulge the list of chemicals used in the fracking process, claiming it is proprietary information.

3. Test for hydrogen sulfide and radioactive materials. Prior to any drilling, there must be a determination whether or not hydrogen sulfide (a deadly gas) or naturally occurring radioactive materials would be produced at drilling sites.

4. Protect against water contamination. The state of Pennsylvania needs to impose appropriate setbacks from streams, ponds and water wells. Current regulations provide for setbacks that are dangerously close to these water sources.

5. Control water sources. Strict regulations need to be implemented to ensure that the drilling operations requiring millions of gallons of water do not have a negative impact on local waterways, fish or other wildlife.

The many problems associated with gas drilling have been well documented in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and other states. Now stories are coming out of other parts of Pennsylvania where drilling in the Marcellus Shale is causing serious threats to people’s health. Let us not delude ourselves into thinking it can’t happen here.

Risk to the water supply

To the editor:

My thanks to The River Reporter for coverage of proposed gas drilling in our valley. Much has been written and much has been said. What no one seems to want to say a lot about, though it certainly has been mentioned, is the risk of damaging the aquifer, and thus risking the contamination of not only our water supply, but the drinking water our watershed provides to 17 million people who live in the cities south of here.

The Federal government, via the Energy Policy Act of 2005, has exempted the fracking process from regulation. This neutralizes the Department of Environmental Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation. I know it’s hard to believe. We like to believe that those agencies exist to protect our environment and us. If this process did not put the water supply in jeopardy, then I doubt that energy lobbyists would have made the effort to get the exemption from the various clean water acts. So the risk is there.

What we can’t do is remain silent. It’s a terrible thing that any government would intentionally risk a human tragedy of such magnitude to satisfy the greed of energy companies (and, let’s face it, our endless demand for cheap fossil fuels). It was a terrible thing that the government refused to build levees in New Orleans to withstand the force-five hurricanes they knew could come—it was so terrible that no one talked about it.

The choice appears to be water to drink, water needed to grow food, water for the animals we eat—i.e., basic survival—vs. exploiting a source of clean-burning natural gas, in a manner that will not be regulated to protect the water, no matter what anyone puts in a lease. I admire the efforts property owners have made to make this a safe process, but the deck is stacked against the safety they so desire. Write now, talk to your local government officials now, make people in the cities aware now.

Susan Sullivan

Narrowsburg, NY

If it ain’t broke…

To the editor:

The Tusten town board is attempting to eliminate the highway department and water and sewer department, and replace them with a department of public works. In the process, they want to eliminate the elected position of highway superintendent. The justification for this is efficiency.

We have one of the best, if not the best, highway departments in the whole county. The board feels that the situation we have now is satisfactory, but that they are better qualified than the voting public to pick the right person for the job.

Winston Churchill said it best: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried.”

Adolf Hitler disagreed, and the justification for fascism was efficiency.