Homicide Charge In Crash That Killed Elmira Woman

On Friday morning, October 21st, Lauralee Michelle Widmer of Elmira lost her life to a drunk driver. She was 36 years old.

Jackson Township, Pa. — A Texas man is facing a vehicular homicide charge in connection with Friday morning’s crash in Tioga County, Pa. that killed an Elmira woman...Davidson works in the natural gas industry and is an employee of T3 Energy Services, located in Elmira, according to Pennsylvania State Police. He was driving a company truck at the time of the accident, according to police... (The Corning Leader)

Read more here.

Yes, I know that accidents happen everywhere.  Yes, I know that people other than gas drillers drive drunk and abuse drugs.  Yes, I know that this accident is not the fault of the gas industry- not directly anyway.  So please refrain from posting comments that say these things.  I've heard it all quite a few times.  These gas employees work 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.  They have a lot of time on their hands.  They are far away from their families.  They populate the local bars.  The police in Bradford County have said so.  These jobs invite problems.  The gas industry does add many problems to living in gasfields. 

Check here and here.

A quote from the DA of Bradford County: (August 2011)

In Bradford County, Pa., drunken driving arrests are up 60 percent. Criminal sentencing was up 35 percent in 2010. And in Towanda, the county seat, DUI arrests were up 50 percent.
Why? The frenzy of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling, which has boosted the economies of some of Pennsylvania's smallest and most rural counties in recent years, has also led to rapid population swells and -- by extension -- more crime.

"Economic boom equals crime boom," said Daniel J. Barrett, the district attorney of Bradford County, which borders southern New York.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11227/1166928-499-0.stm#ixzz1bhhah0ii

Another Fatality Related To Gas Drilling: Bradford County, PA

Gas truck on a PA road

In a nutshell,  there was a fatal accident early Sunday morning (a few minutes after midnight) in Terry Township (Bradford County, PA), involving a 2008 Ford F-150 welding rig truck driven by a North Dakota man.  The man killed, the passenger, was from Arkansas.  It appears that speed and alcohol were involved.

My thoughts:
The two people involved were NOT local residents.  So this is an example of job opportunities for Pennsylvanians.  Just anecdotal, but interesting.  The workers are so often from somewhere else.

This accident was at night on a curve in the road, and the truck was allegedly going too fast.  a) Roads in rural PA are typically curvy. b) I have found through personal experience that gas drilling trucks do go too fast- ridiculously fast.  They scare me to death.

Alcohol was allegedly involved.  Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant among gas workers.  A gas worker I talked to last June told me that every worker has to take a breathalyzer test before being allowed to enter the drilling pads.  That is good.  However, there is still a problem with drinking and drugs, especially on the roads.

So send the comments in.  Will you tell me that I should not single out gas workers?  That accidents happen to anybody?  There is some truth in that.  However,  the occupation presence of the gas industry brings with it many more dangerous elements, including vehicle accidents.  And often it is a local citizen who dies or is seriously injured. 

Here is the article from the Daily Review (Towanda): http://thedailyreview.com/news/man-killed-in-terry-township-accident-1.1198104

Drilling Mud Truck and Car Collide in Susquehanna County, PA: One Fatality

John Jones, age 57, was killed in this accident. He had at least two children.

Water Tanker Tips Over Into Ditch: Susquehanna County, PA

This accident was minor.  Yet it took several hours to get the truck out of the way while more trucks waited in a long line to get through.  No one was hurt.

I applaud the brave person who filmed this incident.  She goes wherever she finds the real news and provides videos for us who can't be there on the scene.  Indy Media at its best!

Gas Drilling Worker Killed in Crash (Bradford County, PA)

One man was killed and another received a major injury in a road accident.  Authorities said they appeared to be welders, and the truck door had a gas company name on it.

Details here:
LINK

Natural Gas Drilling Causes Truck Traffic Nightmares

Frack truck impacts on New York towns and villages:  What will our future look like?

Thanks to Sustainable Otsego for this excellent presentation by Chip Northrup and Jeff Reynolds.
Distribution courtesy of Teresa Winchester.

Pennsylvanians for Human Life: Are they anti-drilling?

Pro-lifers held a rally in Towanda Saturday, January 22nd, on the steps of the courthouse on Main Street.  Then on Monday they went to Washington, DC, to lobby their newly-elected and pro-life legislators, Congressman Tom Marion and Senator Pat Toomey. 

I am wondering this:

  Are these same people as passionate about children who are already here?  Will they speak out against gas wells being put within feet of schools?  Are they concerned about the extreme dangers on our roads due to over-sized gas trucks?  How serious are they about the detrimental effects of toxins in the air from compressor stations and flaring activity?  What about low frequency noise which can cause harmful effects on the human body, enough to send people to a hospital?  Are these same people worried about our water quality? 

Are Rep. Marion and Sen. Toomey going to fight for our environment and human health in Washington?

Read an article from The Rocket-Courier here:  LINK

Mike Kilmer of Wyalusing, who headed up this rally said,

"We're here to challenge our nation's conscience."

May the anti-abortion people also fight for the environment and human health for the living by fighting just as hard for drilling regulations and reform in Pennsylvania. Otherwise there is a huge disconnect in logic going on here.

Gas Drilling in PA: No Respect For the Law

This morning PennDOT removed a tracked drilling rig from the wooded area where it fell off a lowboy Friday in East Troy, PA.  Two problems come immediately to mind:

1. The weight of the rig and the lowboy together were overweight.  Law for weight IGNORED.

2. Diesel was drained from the rig after the accident.  That sounds very nice, but did any of the diesel fuel spill during the accident or as the fuel was being drained?   ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS!

This scenario has been repeated many, many times in PA and everywhere else gas drilling is happening.  It is a significant danger to local people and the environment.  However, there seems to be little worry by gas companies.  I will give the benefit of the doubt that the gas industry does care about their workers.  However, the fines for these accidents is laughable at best.  The Daily Review reported that the fine here will be more than $12,000.  A mere drop in the bucket.

Read more...........LINK

Natural Gas Drilling: Nineteen Minutes in Dimock, PA

Hundreds of diesel truck trips are required to service each gas well, polluting the air with noxious compounds in diesel exhaust fumes. This quick little film captures 58 trucks on one road on one Fall afternoon in Dimock PA over a 19-minute period of real time. One truck, poignantly, carries fresh drinking water for a Dimock family whose water has been ruined by gas fracking.


Guitar music by Jason Shaw at www.audionautix.com, "Plantation" and "Mountain Sun," permission for use licensed under Creative Commons by Jason Shaw.

"19 Minutes in Dimock" © 2010 by Jane Prettyman, host of 'Public Comment' (username 'Dissenta'): http://www.pubcomm.blogspot.com/.

Natural Gas Industry: "I can't stop the truck!"

Tractor-trailer Hits Antique Shop in Ulster, PA
Photo: Brian Bishop, The Towanda Daily Review

Cindy Chase was closing her store Thursday afternoon in Ulster, PA, when she heard someone yelling at her to get out of the way.  She turned and saw a huge truck coming right for her.  Read more...

This is just one more example of the danger we face.  Even the trucks on our roads pose a significant risk, to say nothing of what happens on well sites themselves in terms of contamination of our water, soil, and air.  Cindy Chase was able to jump out of the way.  What if there had been a child there or an elderly person walking along the sidewalk?  The impact was so great that it appeared to have shifted the building off its foundation slightly. 

The truck involved in the crash was presumably owned by Washita Valley Enterprises, Inc., a company headquartered in Springtown, Texas.  Where are the local jobs we were promised?

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

"I could smell his brakes, and I knew he was in trouble..."

Runaway truck crashes in Camptown, PA
Photo credit: David Keeler, Rocket-Courier

UPDATE:  The driver of this tanker was driving too fast.  His brakes had NOT failed as initially assumed.  The Towanda Daily Review report is here.

So it's 8:30 at night.  Rich and Hope Minyon were at home near Brewer Hollow Road on Route 409.  They heard the sound.  They ran to the other side of the house- away from the road.  The runaway water tanker had lost its brakes and was speeding downhill toward the Minyon home.  It flipped on its side, slid down the road, and careened over a small embankment, coming to rest in front of the Minyon's house.  Read more...

I am familiar with the terrain in Bradford County, PA.  There are many houses at the bottom of many hills on narrow country roads.  These houses are sitting ducks.  These large tankers are too big to drive on these winding, hilly roads.  Everyone knows that.  It is also known that the drivers of these trucks often drive too fast.  They drive while drowsy.  They drive while on drugs.  This is a formula for more accidents and injuries and deaths.  How many deaths will it take?

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

PUT SAFETY FIRST BEFORE PROFITS

Natural Gas Industry: Speeding and Pollution on Country Roads in West VA

Several individuals reported speeding and dangerous driving by a brine hauler called Carpers. Reported behavior to Chesapeake on June 30, 2010, July 3 and July 6. This video was taken on July 9. Residents have had to keep their windows shut because of pollution similar to this. This convoy hit 45 MPH + on sections of Route 89 posted for 35 MPH.

This video was taken in West Virginia.  Notice the vehicle that is almost run off the road by these two trucks.  Look at the pollution spewing from these trucks.  Watch them take sharp corners at unsafe speeds.

Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers,  be very scared.  This happens ANYWHERE there is gas drilling.  I have experienced dangerous conditions on the roads of PA firsthand, compliments of the gas drilling industry.  I have read about fatal and near-fatal accidents involving gas drilling vehicles.  This is a daily reality for local people wherever gas drilling is in progress.

Natural Gas Drilling: Another Truck Overturns

Photo Credit:  Jason Fox, The Leader

What is toxic drilling waste doing being transported from Pennsylvania to New York State anyway?  As a NYS resident, I do not want PA toxic waste dumped in NYS.  For that matter, I do not want toxic drilling waste dumped anywhere.

Early in the afternoon of August 30th, a dump truck carrying gas well drill cuttings bound for a landfill crashed, spilling its toxic cargo over an embankment to the edge of a stream which feeds into the Conhocton River near where it meets the Chemung River.  The load of drilling mud was mixed with sawdust, as is the custom, to solidify the "stuff."  What ended up where it shouldn't have- these drill cuttings- is the mess that comes up out of the wellbore during drilling, some of it consisting of materials from deep within the earth.  This very gross-looking stuff contains radioactive materials and a lot of toxic chemicals as they are mixed in the drilling process.  This is a very serious accident.  Sadly these kinds of accidents are becoming more and more numerous. 

Read the story here.

Photo credit:  Jason Fox

Natural Gas Industry: Is Chesapeake Energy Just a Good Neighbor?

Photo credit: Frank Finan

Chesapeake Energy has contracted out road work in Bradford County, PA. Is this just a generous kindness on their part?  No.  They decided that it would be cheaper better to upgrade the roads for their heavy trucks now rather than demolish the roads and then have to continuously fix them.  Most of these back roads, actually none of them, were ever meant for heavy trucks the likes of these.  The bridges are having to be strengthened, too.  You will see signs saying, "Ten ton limit" everywhere.  Even empty, most of these vehicles weigh three times that.

Read more here.

Truckers Need Schooling in PA

Sandra Major, PA Republican state representative (Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming counties) is hosting a safety presentation for truckers and trucking business owners today in Montrose, PA.  The influx of truck traffic from the natural gas industry is the primary concern, according to Major.  She says that more trucks are being pulled over for inspection and being found not to be in compliance with the state's Motor Carrier Law.  Representatives from the PA State Police and PennDOT will participate today.

Now who is footing the bill for this event?  The taxpayers of the state of Pennsylvania, no doubt.  Why should they provide this service to the gas drilling industry?  The industry itself should be completely familiar with the laws governing trucks in PA, or the trucks should not be out on the roads.  In fact, I don't believe that the industry will pay much attention to this seminar since there are too few inspectors and police available to monitor the hundreds of trucks on the roads these days.  If they catch a few,  great!  But even when caught, the gas companies just pay the little fines and go on their merry way.  It's a price of doing business.  You see the signs posted that prohibit truck traffic weighing more than 10 tons.  I think the trucks I see weigh 40 tons empty.  So none of them should be on these country roads in Bradford County where I go in the summer months.

I have never met Rep. Major.  And although this seems like a great idea- a meeting to provide information for truckers- it really won't accomplish anything in the long run.  It is commendable that Ms. Major is bringing this issue to the fore.  However, the citizens of PA should not have to provide remedial help for the gas industry in the first place.  This has been the MO of the industry all along.  Drill now; ask questions later.  Or do it now and apologize later.  Wouldn't we think it odd if public funds were used to educate dry cleaning businesses or chemical plants in regard to public and environmental safety?  Wouldn't that be a responsibility of the industry?  Why should the gas industry be given special treatment?

The new popular quotation of the gas industry should be, in the words of Steve Urkel (Family Matters, 90's TV sitcom), "Oh, did I do that?"   Or in today's gargon, "Oopsey!"

Read the announcement of this event here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

THE GAS INDUSTRY NEEDS TO KNOW THE LAWS BEFORE DOING BUSINESS