Inergy Protested in Watkins Glen, NY, August 17th

More than 200 people protested loudly against the proposed Inergy propane and natural gas storage facility Friday, April 17. The people oppose putting millions of gallons propane (and eventually natural gas) in salt caverns below the glacier-built Seneca Lake. Already the company has been spilling salty brine water into the lake without even telling regulators of the violations.

NO NATURAL GAS STORAGE IN THE SALT CAVERNS BELOW SENECA LAKE!   OUR HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF OUR CHILDREN MUST COME FIRST.

MARC 1 Gas Pipeline To Be Installed Near Elementary School

If your child attends the Wyalusing Valley Elementary School in Wyalusing, PA,  I suppose you will be glad to know that measures will be taken during the installation of the MARC 1 pipeline to insure your child's safety.  Noise pollution will be kept to an acceptable minimum, and the school district's water well will be protected from contamination.  Great!  No problem.  However, if you think perhaps there might still be a problem with putting in a 30-inch wide major pipeline a mere 897 feet from the school building,  you might not be so impressed with all the precautions the Central New York Oil and Gas Company is taking.  The Susquehanna River is near the school.  This pipeline operation will bore beneath the river only 40 feet underneath the river bottom.  Noise-producing equipment used to drill under the river will be located 875 feet from the school.  Central NY Oil and Gas has hired a noise consultant.  Sound barriers will be put up.  Nice touch there. And the best part- a full-time environmental inspector will be on site.  So all bases have been covered I guess.  The drilling company has assured Wyalusing residents that the pipeline would not pose any danger to students.  So don't we all feel better now?

Read the article from the Towanda Daily Review here. LINK
Read what Standing Stone resident Diane Ward said about the approval process for this pipeline.  Very interesting.  Also Google "pipeline accidents."  You might be surprised. Here's one site to start with: LINK.

And if you would like a broader perspective, here is a presentation from 2005 entitled "Restoring Public Trust in Pipeline Safety."

Pipelines are very dangerous.  They should not be installed near ANYTHING, much less an elementary school.  Are we crazy to allow this to happen?  I think we are.

SPLASHDOWN Water Drops: Karen Korell's Artistry

Here are some of the little water drops which Karen Korell designed and drew.  Karen died August 30, 2010.  We will all miss her very much.  Her water drops were very unique and were just one example of her creativity and her passion for the environment and public health.

We need clean water.

The gas industry is exempt from The Safe Drinking Water Act

Dirty water cannot be washed.

Can you light your tap water on fire?  Some people can.

Karen fought hard for passage of the FRAC Act.  It is still unpassed.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Driving Drunk In a Flatbed Truck Owned By Gas Company

I am getting sick of this.  Another potentially fatal accident involving an employee of a gas drilling outfit in PA.  What are people going to do to feel safe anymore?  Very early Saturday morning (6/26), Steven Mohr, Jr., age 34, of Halstead, PA, got behind the wheel of his flatbed tractor trailer owned by 5J Oilfield Services, drove into the village of Owego at a high rate of speed, and lost control of the rig, shearing off several telephone poles and a guardrail before resting the cab in a stormwater drainage ditch near a doctor's office on 5th Avenue.  THE DRIVER FLED ON FOOT.

The driver was later found at a hospital in Binghamton, NY, and was charged with fleeing the scene of a property danage accident, DUI, imprudent speed, and criminal mischief 4th degree. 

Read the article from the Owego Pennysaver and see PHOTOS here. "Pennsylvania man arrested following accident in Owego that left residents without power."

Check out this excellent blog post from The Marcellus Effect.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

SAFETY ON OUR ROADS!

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

Natural Gas Drilling: Public Safety Officer Is Concerned in Bradford County (PA)

Gary Wilcox, Bradford County Public Safety Director (Photo credit: Eric Hrin, The Daily Review)

At a luncheon on Wednesday, May 19, at Towanda High School, Gary Wilcox, the county's public safety director,  expressed his considerable concern about deteriorating road conditions which can and do lead to serious problems- accidents, impassable roads, truck drivers unfamiliar with the PA terrain, among other unsafe situations facing first responders.  He is particularly concerned about school buses and the safety of school children.  A major stress on public safety is the gas drilling industry, he said.

One of the main concerns I have is school buses. These water trucks, the heavy equipment, they want to get from A to B as quick as they can. They're not used to driving on these roads. They're not used to the snow, the ice, the corners, the ups and downs. If you have a water truck and a school bus coming, the roads aren't that wide to begin with...

Wilcox said he can't do a lot about the roads because the county doesn't own the roads. However, he said he can call the township supervisors who can take appropriate action.

Read the whole article here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Looking For Mushrooms Turns Scary

A young Rockville, Indiana, resident, fourteen-year-old David Crowder, was hunting mushrooms in the woods last week when, all of a sudden, a gas pipeline ruptured nearby.

We heard like a jet engine running and then a big boom, and we saw the smoke rising, Crowder said.

People called 911, thinking that something terrible must have happened. Residents within a mile of the explosion were evacuated. Emergency vehicles lined the road, blocking traffic. A Parke County (Indiana) sheriff said the erupting flames reached as high as 700 feet and were visible for miles.

I never saw anything like it, he said, describing the roar as that of "ten jet engines."

A six-year-old little girl, Krinjal Patel, said

We thought a plane crashed.

The good news is that no one was hurt or killed. Several residents reported how scary it was to hear the explosion and see the massive flames. There were homes and a church near the explosion, and people were worried that they might have been damaged. Apparently no homes or buildings were affected by the explosion and fire.

What is the effect of pipeline explosions on people who experience them? Do they not create anxiety and fear? Could this happen again? Will someone be killed next time? Is this lack of safety damaging to our children? What about six-year-old Kringal? Will she ever feel the same about the place where she lives? Will she ever forget that day she heard that loud boom and saw the flames reaching for the sky?

You can read the whole article in the Terre Haute News here.