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A Reflection on Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and Butler County

1/9/2016

 
Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.”  -- Wendell Berry, from What Are People For?: Essays

On Monday, December 21, 2015, six grandparents sat in six rocking chairs on the access road to the Geyer well in Adams and Middlesex townships. We had no intention of allowing any Rex traffic to pass; most of us were prepared to be arrested if it came to that.

This was, as far as I know, the very first instance of nonviolent direct action with a civil disobedience component carried out by fracktivists in Butler County. This was not a Marcellus Outreach Butler action, though many of the participants are affiliated with MOB.

Why did we do it?

As the action was wrapping up I engaged one of the other grandparents in conversation and she said something that is very powerful: "We don't do this because we think this one action will stop the well. We do it because we are obligated to say no."

While I'm pretty certain that many of the other grandparents, like me, hoped that our action would make Rex reconsider drilling near Mars Area schools, I am absolutely certain that none of us thought that this was even a remote possibility. But, as Berry suggests in the quote above, our "own hearts and spirits would be destroyed by acquiescence" if we didn't do it.

As research evidence piles up, it becomes clearer and clearer that fracking doesn't belong anywhere near people, other living things, water, air, or soil. In the months and weeks leading up to our action, a number of powerful studies were released that linked proximity to fracked wells and low birth weights (Pitt), problem pregnancies (Johns Hopkins), and cardiac visits to emergency rooms (Penn). Duke University released a study linking proximity to a fracked well and decreased property value. Low sperm counts have also been linked to proximity to fracking sites (U. of Missouri).

I applaud the powerful work done by the Mars Parent Group, who have bravely waged a tireless effort to organize and educate the residents of Adams and Middlesex. I am grateful to the residents of Middlesex Twp., the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Clean Air Council, who are fighting the Geyer well with the only state sanctioned tools at our disposal: the legal justice system. I am in awe of the people who have been hit with a SLAPP suit but are still speaking out against drilling near Mars Area schools, still exercising their rights guaranteed by our Constitution.
 
As an elected official, a former teacher of delinquent boys, a father, a grandfather, a person of faith and someone who appreciates and values the ideals of the founding principles of our country, I believe in playing by the rules. But still... rules are made by people, and people make mistakes.  When rules allow unspeakable harm or make it more likely to continue to happen, people must not acquiesce.
 
I think that civil disobedience is a tool that we are going to have to use skillfully to win this fight, but it's only one of the tools.  We need the entire toolbox and we need people to stretch from where they are to areas where they are less comfortable. Many have already done some remarkable stretching -- it was a big stretch by many to advocate for your community in front of your supervisors, commissioners and council people;  to knock on doors; to show up at rallies and hold signs.
 
Stretching is what MOB needs to encourage. We've been talking about it for quite some time. We've got some very educated "members" of MOB. They come to every meeting. They are engaged. They have their hearts in the right place but, maybe, some don't stretch. We need to get the folks who are educated to stretch -- e.g., to do file reviews, to monitor streams or air quality. We need folks who attend our rallies to stretch -- maybe to plan a rally. I love it when people say, "Can you think of something creative we could do about (for example) the trucks on Cliff St. in Butler?"  I'd love it even more if they'd stretch and say, "I'd like to organize something around Cliff St., could you help me pull that together?" Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone who attended our meetings said, "You know, that program on pipelines was really good. Can I contact my friend Tim DeChristopher about doing a presentation on..."   (Alternate: "You know, this presentation on pipelines was really good.  I know a guy who could do a presentation on... (fill in the blank); shall I contact him and see when he's available?")
 
 
The fracktivist toolbox in Butler County was opened just a bit wider on December 21st. Let's hope that it's just the beginning.

Nothing could be further from the truth

6/26/2015

 
Your June 4th article "Leaseholders Sue Drilling Challengers" revealed the motives of those filing this counter lawsuit.   Ironically, all the words used to describe the action of the parents listed on the lawsuit challenging the Middlesex zoning ordinance, "a sham, malicious and the misuse of the legal process"  are an accurate description of their own actions in this case.  One of their goals seems to be to subject the defendants to an expensive and time consuming experience in order to dissuade them from appealing the Middlesex Zoning Hearing Board's decision, which supports an ordinance permitting drilling and its supporting structures in most of Middlesex Township.  These type of lawsuits are meant to discourage present and future opposition.  Attempts to deter our first amendment right to free speech is what makes them dangerous.

Their other goal seems to be to make sure they profit from their leases with the gas industry so they accuse the defendants of "disseminating false, misleading and inflammatory" information.   Nothing could be farther from the truth.   The defendants and members of the Mars Parent Group have been careful not to say anything that is not supported by research.  There are potential health impacts from unconventional gas drilling and its infrastructure, especially to children whose respiratory systems and immune systems are still developing.  Serious explosions have happened requiring evacuations; water has been contaminated in some places and air pollution is also a real problem.   More people need to speak up and support these parents who are protecting their children and call out those who are making false accusations.    

D.A.

Lawsuit Self-inflicted

2/12/2015

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Regarding Jane Hawkins Peterson’s letter (“Guess Who’s Paying,” Jan. 3), the writers asks if local taxes will rise in Middlesex Township because of the current litigation over the gas and oil ordinance passed by the supervisors last August. I wish she had asked at the last supervisors meeting why the township is being sued.

Having attended most supervisors meetings over the past 2½ years, I and other residents often expressed our concern over the problems that go hand in hand with unconventional gas drilling, which include possibilities of water contamination, explosions, toxic air emissions, home devaluation and impacts on health near drilling operations.

When the Mars Parent Group began raising some of the same issues related to the Geyer well pad and its proximity to their children’s school, the Middlesex supervisors showed little support for the parents’ concerns. Instead, one supervisor expressed an attitude of not being willing to deny leaseholders their money. This last remark gets to the essence of the litigation. The role of the supervisors is not to guarantee the money residents could earn through private contractual agreements with a drilling company. Our supervisors took an oath to protect the health, safety and welfare of the entire community. They are required to adhere to the purpose of zoning as established in the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code, which is to separate incompatible land uses. The most obvious is the separation of industrial from residential land uses. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling on Act 13 is that it’s an industrial activity.

At a Middlesex Planning Commission meeting before the final vote on the gas and oil operations ordinance, commission members expressed discomfort with how rushed they felt in reviewing this ordinance. Consequently, the planning commission recommended delaying the vote until more time could be given to review the final ordinance.

Why the big hurry, one of the commissioners asked.  Perhaps we need to ask why this ordinance is not in alignment with our zoning. The honest answer may give us a clearer picture of why Middlesex’s gas and oil operations ordinance is being legally challenged.

D.A.
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