In 1930, my greatgrandparents purchased a beautiful farm in Bradford County, PA, in a little hamlet called French Azilum. In the summer, we spent time there, resting, breathing in the fresh air, enjoying the wild flowers, the bright stars and planets on a clear moonlit night, and swimming in the Susquehanna River. If gas drilling is allowed to continue, Bradford County and all of Pennsylvania will be forever changed, ruined beyond repair.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Marcellus Gas Drilling: The Mannings Tell Their Story
In less than 10 minutes, this video shines a light on the Mannings in Pennsylvania whose water is ruined. Listen to how their life has changed since hydrofracking began near their home. How much help have they gotten from the DEP or the gas company?
I feel so bad for you all and can relate...here's what was done to my property before they have even begun to drill:
ReplyDeleteJust before Christmas a company called Geokinetics (they always use unmarked vehicles and even the employees will do anything NOT to tell you who they work for) was in our area conducting unannounced Seismic testing within 100 feet home and well. Within a very short span of time (days) from this occurrence our water well collapsed and cracks appeared on the walls in our garage and one entire side of our home. We contacted our insurance company who of course immediately denied the claim as the damages they observed during their inspection they said were caused by the induced seismic activity and they told us this needs to be addressed by the Seismic Company.
Our next course of action was to contact Geokinetics who in turn sent 3 people to our home to photograph all of the cracks that have appeared inside of our home and after many attempts without response to either verbal and written requests for information or, in lieu of Geokinetics working on this issue we have asked at every conversation for the name of their insurer have been rebuffed to this query as well until we received a very short Email denying any responsibility and they have since refused access to view the data they refer to as the basis for this denial.
I am concerned about my home as far as what damage may have been done to the structure to cause the cracking and floor separations but more pressing is the fact that although we were able to get our well repaired and have water again we were told by the well company that this will be a temporary solution at best and we need to plan on having a new well placed in the future which will be very costly and (due to the available aquifers we will be forced to drill down to ) a serious downgrade in water quality since every deep well in this area reeks of sulfur.
I cannot express the issues and the sheer attitude we have had to try and overcome in dealing with these companies (from Anadarko) all the way down to Geokinetics and Urban. We were never informed this testing was going to take place at our very doorstep and now that they have caused all this damage to our home and water we are being ignored by these companies and quite frankly cannot find anyone including the gas commission to even reply or offer any type of assistance or advice.
My wife and I are losing everything we have worked a lifetime for since a home without water is worthless so we are faced with simply letting our home go into foreclosure in order to walk away from this disgrace that has been visited upon us.
To Date, the gas company to date still refuses any contact with their insurance and continue to deny responsibility although our security cameras clearly show them in the street next to our property and one of their employees trespassing to "check" their activity to be sure they were causing no harm as they told us when they were here to photograph and assess the damage.
I'll ask you a simple question...if I were to get in an accident with you would you allow me to refuse access to my insurance and then do my own investigation (and deny responsibility of course)? I think not.