Cherry Springs has been recognized by the International Dark Sky Association as a "Gold Tier" Dark Sky Park and designated by PA DCNR as Pennsylvania's First Dark Sky Park. It is the location of the darkest night sky East of the Mississippi. The area's night sky resource is under pressure because of light pollution from recent and planned Marcellus well drilling sites that do gas flarings and use unshielded light fixtures. As of April 2011 over 2000 wells have been drilled in PA with an estimated 100,000 wells planned.
How much more beauty are we willing to give up for fossil fuel extraction?
Do we have a bottom line?
I'm from the Utica Shale area in OH. This story is bad news for our new Observatory Park, chosen for our area's dark sky. Thanks for all the great links--many help with Ohio's fight against fracking!
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