Posts Tagged ‘RALPH NARDONE’

The pursuit of natural gas on county land could endanger area water supplies, one leader says.

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

Opposition to local natural gas drilling continues to boil over. On Saturday, about 100 people gathered to voice their concerns about possible drilling at Moon Lake Park. The 650-acre park had been kicked around as a site with the blessing of county officials who were seeking a way to cash in on the local boom.

Organizers originally intended to conduct a nine hour “rally” there that included food vendors, family activities, music and more but could only meet briefly due to a lack of proper insurance coverage.

Janine Dymond from Harding, member of the Friends of Moon Lake and bike trail enthusiast said the county required by policy $1 million worth of insurance coverage for any large scale event on county property. She said when the group learned about the insurance they decided the estimated $1,300 in premiums to be cost prohibitive.

Still, they gathered to support each other, displaying signs of protest for the prospective drilling plans, and spit vitriol at Commissioner Steve Urban who supports gas drilling there.

Dymond said she personally gathered about 600 signatures on an anti-drilling petition.

“It’s hard not to get involved,” Dymond said.

Dr. Tom Jiunta from Lehman Township, one of the founders of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, said the environmental cons of park drilling far outweigh the economic pros. Because of its proximity to the Ceasetown Dam, the fact most residences use well water and the recent issues concerning ground water pollution, drilling is too risky.

In addition, the amount of diesel fuel exhaust from the truck traffic and drilling machinery belched from a 24-hour industrial project is significant, he said. He spoke to people who have respiratory issues they attribute to drilling.

He said the gas industry often misleads about the actual economic value of drilling to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Most of the jobs produced will be for workers who come from out-of-state, he said. The gas taken locally will be sold in the global market to countries such as China, he added.

When talking about Moon Lake, Jiunta said the beauty of the park should be preserved as well as the health and safety of the residents.

Jean Whitesell from Hunlock Creek and Kathy Hopkins from Ashley, co-workers who visit Moon Lake on a regular basis, expressed their fears the park will become a drilling site. They were fishing with their children.

Whitesell said she was “upset” when she first heard about the drilling plans.

She said she is not opposed to gas drilling as long as it is done where it won’t “hurt anybody.”

Dymond said the Friends of Moon Lake thanked the Sierra Club for its help in fighting the drilling project. She said the group intends to organize a rally sometime in the near future.

Copyright: Times Leader

Some residents oppose, but solicitor says only state can halt drilling operations in municipalities.

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

LEHMAN TWP. – Township residents will be getting a new neighbor when EnCana Oil and Gas USA begins drilling for natural gas in late summer.

Township officials voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve an ordinance allowing the company to start Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations near Peaceful Valley Road.

Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Ray Iwanowski made the motion to enact the ordinance and Chairman David Sutton and Supervisor Douglas Ide voted yes.

Township Zoning Board Solicitor Jack Haley addressed a well-mannered crowd of about 70 people before the vote, essentially telling them the township was in no position to halt the company’s plans.

Some residents who expressed opposition wanted the supervisors to “send a message” by not enacting the ordinance, Haley said. That would have amounted to “civil disobedience,” he said.

According to Haley, all authority to halt drilling operations in any municipality in Pennsylvania lies in the hands of state agencies, not local governments. The township’s rules are “superseded” by the state Oil and Gas Act, he said.

The state Supreme Court already reviewed two similar cases, he added, and decided the only authority Lehman Township has applies to what roads EnCana can use.

Haley also addressed concerns raised that two of the supervisors, Ide and Sutton, have personal ties to gas drilling. Ide leased some of his own land for gas drilling, and Sutton consults property owners concerning drilling, Haley said.

Both members could only second the motion or vote yes but could not participate in any questions about the vote or make the original motion. The only supervisor who could make the motion was Iwanowski.

The state Ethics Commission checked into the potential conflict of interest involving the two supervisors.

Iwanowski outlined six conditions to the motion: that EnCana put up $13,540 to maintain Firehouse Road through the total time it is used; EnCana put up $32,192 to maintain Peaceful Valley Road similarly; all traffic related to the drilling traverse on Firehouse Road toward state Route 118; no traffic will go on Old Route 115 in the township (near the school); EnCana provide adequate insurance coverage for the township, and that a legally binding agreement be signed by EnCana holding it to its commitment.

No representatives from EnCana attended the meeting.

About 25 peaceful protesters were there greeting meeting attendees at the door with anti-drilling literature. Leanne Mazurick, 30, of Dallas Township, stressed the industry is essentially “unregulated.” She said residents in other communities of Northeastern Pennsylvania are having trouble with water contamination where there is drilling.

“We want safeguards put in place,” she said.

Karen Belli, of Dallas Township, and member of Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, emphasized a long list of ills that arise from local gas drilling. She pointed to homeowners in one local community have to use “water buffaloes” for their water supply because of the contamination.

Belli also questioned how Supervisors Ide and Sutton could be involved in the vote knowing their connections to the industry.

Not all in attendance were opposed. Barry Edwards, of Lehman Township, said the concerns about water are just a “harangue.” He added that in Susquehanna County the drilling companies have made the roads “better than the ever.”

Iwanowski said fixed-income elderly residents and farmers facing large debt are finding the gas drilling a financial “godsend.”

He said the ordinance allows EnCana to drill only vertically. If it wishes to expand horizontally underground that will require another vote from the township.

Copyright: Times Leader