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.
LeRoy, New York, is the location of a mysterious cluster illness at the Junior Senior High School. Fifteen students have exhibited varying degrees of involuntary twitches and verbal outbursts not unlike those associated with Tourette's syndrome. I have seen these students on the news here locally. Absolutely NO mention has been made until yesterday (at least I have not heard about it) of the five natural gas wells owned by the LeRoy school district and ring the school building which opened in 2003. These wells have been hydrofracked and are active wells. Why hasn't the presence of these wells been part of the investigation to discover what is causing the illness of these young people? In addition, there was a major train derailment there on December 6, 1970, within three miles of what is now the school site. There are still rumors that the school is built on land that was used 42 years ago as a dump site for the contaminated soil. Thirty thousand gallons of the solvent trichloroethylene and also one ton of cyanide crystals were spilled in this accident. Was the school built on a toxic waste dump? [Note: The area where the toxic spill occurred is designated as the Lehigh Valley Railroad Derailment Superfund Site.]
There has not been adequate testing at the school It is way too soon to make any judgements as to the cause of the illness. Erin Brockovich, known for her legal research on a huge California water contamination case many years ago, has said,
While we don't have the answers, we are suspicious that the all-clear has been sounded on the environmental side, and we don't believe that it should have been.
A long time ago Ms. Brockovich uncovered the fact that Pacific Gas and Electric had been poisoning the water of Hinkley for over 30 years. Her story was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts.
Here is a must read article about Erin Brockovich's investigation of the rare illness in LeRoy, New York. She already has a prime suspect.
Air pollution, noise pollution, water pollution, they all come with the territory. Welcome to an industrial zone, aka a sacrifice zone, because every single gas well site has the potential to becomes superfund site after all is said and done. Remember Love Canal?
Photo by David Keeler It is interesting what people spend their time worrying about. For instance, the view from Wyalusing Rocks (PA) has been a highlight of my visits to the area since childhood. Looking down from there, and with the aid of my binoculars, I can see my family summer home on the banks of the Susquehanna River. A white steeple can be seen through trees. That's what I call "The Little White Church," otherwise known as French Azilum United Methodist Church. My great grandparents attended there faithfully every Sunday in the summer months years ago, starting around 1930, and are now buried in the old adjacent cemetery.
In a recent article in the Wyalusing Rocket-Courier, David Keeler laments the overgrown sumac trees that block the spectacular view of the Susquehanna River and French Azilum below.
Beneath those famous rocks, the future is being changed irreversibly by the day. Almost every land owner in French Azilum, except for my family, has signed a gas lease, mostly with Chesapeake Appalachia. And before long drill pads will begin to show up on this beautiful landscape. Frenchtown, as I call it, will be an industrial zone in a year or two. Maybe sooner. The view from these rocks will reveal the future of our family's land. There will be no future. There will be well pads everywhere you look. No more floating down the river in inner tubes, no more sitting on the cottage porch enjoying the rain or the full moon and stars, the brightest stars on the planet. No more family gatherings. No more introducing our grandchildren to "Camp," as we call it. No more walking down the country road to that Little White Church for Sunday worship. No more skipping flat round stones from the river bank. No more peace and quiet and fresh country air. It will be gone soon. The dangers of living in a toxic chemical area with its air, soil, and water pollution, will make it an unsuitable place to come in the summer.
Sumac can be cut back. Well pads cannot be erased. After the gas is gone from these wells, the land will never be able to support crops, animals, or people, at least not for decades, and probably never again. These areas will be Superfund sites. I understand why it is easier to worry about sumac. Sumac is a problem that can be solved. Gas drilling is a problem that will outlast all of us and will ruin our children's and grandchildren's future in the Susquehanna Valley in Bradford County.
