Stephanie Hallowich reporting from Pennsylvania
Photo by Hannah Abelbeck
Stephanie's story of how gas drilling has jeopardized her family's health and feelings of safety is one of the most poignant and articulate accounts I have seen so far. She reports that her friends and neighbors, even church friends, are turning against her because they see her as a threat to the money they hope to get from future royalties. The social implications of gas drilling have yet to be seriously addressed, but they are there, and they are devastating.
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5 comments:
The description of what happened at the beginning of the gas drilling on video 1 sounded exactly like what happened in Frenchtown last year. Many ribbons of many colors, miles of extension cords, and helicopter pick-up areas all were in evidence. When our president, without consulting the family, allowed seismic testing at Camp, they came and blew a large hole right next to the middle of Camp's path to the river with dynamite. Of course, most of the damage is underground, so we don't know the full extent of the geological problems that could arise now and in the future.We KNOW the gas companies are good at making holes in the Earth. We ALSO know that the results of these holes can be catastrophic to those who live nearby and the companies are better at COVERING up spills than they are at CLEANING up spills. You cannot really UNPOISON a well or REFILL a river or lake. Who knows? We may not only be able to light our water on fire and roast marshmallows at the sinks at Camp but, eventually, we may be able to walk across the riverbed- a new hiking trail. As for fishing, we can pick up fish along the way, though the heavy metals IN the fish may not make for good eating. We are poisoning ourselves and our future citizens more effectively than any terrorist could- they must be laughing at our stupid actions. It is extremely sad.Laurie
Thanks for your post, Laurie. You know whereof you speak.
After learning about the spring contamination near the Stone Camp near the Punxsy hunting club, I was deeply sadened and hurt that this was allowed to happen, I was aware of the risks long before this went through, yet am sad to see that local papers carry little if anything on the issues, Courier, Gant, the Progress ect, no seems to be talking about any of the bad side of the drilling. It would appear that all local government officials seem to be for this.
My question is this, is there any way to bring attention to this issue and to the general public?
Also a State College paper had an excellent article on this issue in Pa, go to www.voicesweb.org to see it.
Thank you
im confused she said that she is not against gas drilling in the beginning of this presentation, and she does nothing but bash the gas company seems like to me that she may not own her oil and gas rights so she is upset with the fact everyone around her is making money while all she is making is a fuss of a state and federal approved drilling operation, in 2 years she will have not distrubtions anymore, what will she complain about next? question for you hallowitch? what would ve happend if it was a developemental company who came in and built homes all around you, would you say that the dust from their exgavating trucks made your dogs sick or would the noise from the cement trucks pouring foundation make you angry....where does it stop with this lady? I am still going to sign my gas lease and i am very open to allowing this operation ON MY LAND cause you know what its my land so you cant stop me from wanting to profit off of it. find a new hobby lady!
John41, I hope you don't learn the hard way. Housing developments don't put things like benzene and toluene into your well water or into the air you breathe. They don't cause depletion of ground water (as to do the fracking, they use millions of gallons of LOCAL water a day for each well)or cause streams to dry up or be poisoned. Talk to some of the farmers in Hickory about the calves they've lost or the ones born with defects such as totally white eyes (no iris or pupils). It's a sad thing when people like you care more about about $$$'s than the environment or their (and others) health. And what people like Stephanie Hallowich are saying is that it isn't the drilling which is bad, it's that people are in such a rush to make money that they are not taking the time to try and do it SAFELY!
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