Contributed photo This gas well fire, located in Leidy Township, erupted on Sunday, September 14 in Northcentral Pennsylvania. The well is owned by Dominion Transmission Company, which flew in firefighters with expertise in gas well fires from Texas to contain the blaze.

Drilling disasters

Nearest HazMat support would come from Scranton

By SANDY LONG

REGION—Hydrogen sulfide pockets, explosions, gas flares and the undisclosed chemicals contained in the fluids used to fracture gas wells pose unique threats to workers, emergency responders, hospital emergency personnel and those who live near natural gas wells.

Hydrogen sulfide, for example, is a flammable, colorless gas that is extremely toxic at low concentrations, can occur anywhere and represents a potentially serious threat to those associated with the process of natural gas extraction, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

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Waiting for the bus

By SANDY LONG

BARRYVILLE, NY—For some children, going to school is seen as something unavoidable. For five-year-old Madison Votee of Barryville, who would very much like to go, it’s currently not an option.

Since school started on September 3, Madison has remained at home because she can’t make it to the morning bus stop and the bus no longer stops where it used to.

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Town of Callicoon moves closer to solar installation

Community expresses support for ambitious plan

By FRITZ MAYER

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY—Supervisor Linda Babicz has coaxed a cautious town board to take a step closer to going solar. At a town meeting on September 22, the board voted unanimously to engage an engineer to draw up a request for proposal (RFP) for a solar-electric system for the town hall and the town barn.

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Other stories in this issue:

• Bring your own bag, please
• Community conversations: gas exploration
• Highland Renaissance repairs another project
• Community potluck features Halloween costume swap
• Power line granted ‘incentive’
• Jeff school roof to be replaced
• Sustainable energy office created in Sullivan
• Wall Street woes: county fallout

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S