The definition of “energy independence” is evolving. Until recently, it meant the United States producing enough oil domestically to no longer be dependent on other nations for any of our energy needs. But now we’re in a world of interdependence, especially for oil. Oil markets know no national allegiance. Globalization and profit motive are altering…
When it comes to gas development in PA, Act 13 is now the very complicated law of the land. In their assessments of this new legislation, Mr. Rosenfeld and Mr. Henderson represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Personally, on rural land use issues, I tend toward the opinions so beautifully rendered by David Kagan in…
This was the year that “fracking” became a household word. It wasn’t just that environmental concerns about the underground drilling process finally struck a mainstream chord—after three years of reporting and more than 125 stories. For the first time, independent scientific investigations linked the drilling technique with water pollution, and a variety of federal and…
With the onset of an ever-increasing gas boom in our region, the weight of the impact is being considered by many of us with great concern over the future of our community as a whole. Living a stone’s throw from Rt. 664, I have had fi rsthand experience with the increased truck traffic and the…
Successful people and successful organizations set goals and make plans to achieve them. A Comprehensive Plan is focused on the future, encouraging people to think about what kind of community we really want and attempting to define a shared vision in terms of goals and objectives. We know tomorrow will be dramatically different from today.…
On November 22, in Tunkhannock, Terry Engelder of Penn State University gave a PowerPoint presentation advocating forced pooling. Our regular contributor Ralph Kisberg presented the following counterpoint to Engelder’s presentation. On the surface, no pun intended, compulsory pooling flies against the instincts of most of us. My property, my rock, my gas, my consent or…
Dallas billionaire T. B. Pickens addressed a crowd of 1700 in a folksy “conversation” at the CAC in Williamsport on the last Friday of September. The evening began with a fairly short monologue consisting of a few entertaining anecdotes, opinions on our political and economic situation, wisdom gleaned from the oil patch, and cryptic references…
Up until last October, my wife and I lived in the Mid-Hudson Valley in New York, a half hour from Woodstock, possibly best known for Bob Dylan and having the 1969 music concert named after it. This part of the Mid-Hudson Valley is a beautiful area with many apple orchards, corn fields, wineries, and the…
An application the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) is reviewing from Chesapeake Energy would have life-changing consequences for people in the Loyalsock Valley, in both Lycoming and Sullivan Counties. Chesapeake proposes to build a frack water filling station just off Route 87 at the edge of Hillsgrove and has applied to SRBC to withdraw 720,000…
Tom Corbett’s first executive order after becoming Governor of Pennsylvania was to create the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. Its mission, to be completed in 120 days, was to make recommendations concerning “Efforts necessary to promote the effi cient, environmentally sound and cost-effective development of Marcellus Shale and other unconventional natural gas resources.” The Williamsport Guardian…
The End of Country by Seamus McGraw is the true story of the Marcellus Shale development in and around Dimock, Pennsylvania. McGraw grew up on a rocky hillside farm where his mother still lives. When she was approached by gas company front men to lease the drilling rights to the gas company, she asked her…
A GAS INDUSTRY WORKER SPILLS The Williamsport Guardian had the following conversation with a young man who has worked as a floorhand on several drilling rigs in Bradford and Tioga Counties. He also worked for a well emergency clean-up, containment, and rig moving company. He asked that we not publish his name. Q: What goes…
State Senator Joseph “Super Bowl” Scarnati, along with Senator Eugene Yaw, among others, introduced Senate Bill 1100 (SB1100) last week. The bill, “An Act Amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes,” imposes a natural gas impact fee tied to a model zoning ordinance. Watchdog groups around the state quickly dissected the…
If you want to learn what your state government plans to do about gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, you need look no further than the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. This is a group of thirty white men and one white woman, average age maybe 55, which meets in the Rachel Carson State Office Building…
Are people like me who are speaking out against natural gas fracking just beings selfish, deluded NIMBY-types? The debate about gas drilling here in north central Pennsylvania, the place I call home, has prompted me to consider the usually derogatory label of NIMBY in a new light. I first remember hearing the term, which stands…
On February 4 Tom Ridge, in his new role as “strategic advisor” for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, visited Waterville, to unveil the gas industry’s “Commitment to the Community”, a promise to follow practices that will protect the people and the environment of Pennsylvania. Present at the event were representatives of Anadarko Petroleum, a company that…
E-mails leaked to Pro-Publica indicate that law enforcement action against criminal actions by corporations fracking in communities above the Marcellus Shale mustbe pre-approved by political appointees of the Governor. This, after news that the appointed head of the Department of Community and Economic Development will have monarchical authority to override agencies of the state that…
The gas drilling has only recently begun, but already we are seeing an increase in traffic congestion and accidents and an increase in crime. And no one seems to have fully thought through how to safely deal with the toxic waste coming out of these wells. If we don’t do something now, this will only…
Three days short of a year after appearing in Williamsport before a crowd of over 200 area residents to inform them of potential health-related problems with gas development, Calvin Tillman, former Mayor of Dish,Texas, is coming back with help for some who may be negatively impacted. Tillmanand fellow Texan Tim Ruggierro recently founded Shale Test,…
Compiled by Ralph Kisberg “[The Cheseapeake Bay Foundation is] looking forward to discussing topics involving shallow gas migration, the ultimate fate and risk of contamination from frack water, documentation and tracking of waste products,inadequate bonding laws, setbacks, fines,well pad siting issues, floodplain concerns,an exploration of alternative fracking methodologies that may have fewer environmental and health…
The debate rages on as to whether Marcellus Shale drillers should have to pay a severance fee to the government. The taxers say that the drillers are depleting the land and therefore ought to pay money representing a percentage of what they sever since the asset will one day be gone but the roads, infrastructure,…
THE MARCELLUS SHALE IS RADIOACTIVE! Does this mean there’s a monster deep underground that’s about to be awakened by humanity’s recklessness and greed? Godzilla beneath our feet? Read on and make your own judgment. Radioactivity becomes international news when a nuclear power plant melts down, as in Japan. What I’m going to talk about is…