Newsletter - Full Edition - August 2015
Parents and Supporters Turn Out
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The Invasion of Butler CountyThe following was submitted as a Letter to the Editor to the Butler Eagle by MOB member and Butler County Commissioner candidate Michael Bagdes-Canning. It is reprinted here with permission from the author. Also with permission from the author and at the request of local anti-residential drilling group Section 27 Alliance, Butler Township has been added to the author's litany of "local officials acting irresponsibly..."
To the Editor, I have often wondered what a captured community would look like, a community that was under the crippling heel of an invader. Would the local press be nonresponsive to local peoples and do the bidding of the invaders? Would local government carry water for the invaders and sell the locals down the river? Recent weeks have helped me see. On Saturday, Marcellus Outreach Butler hosted one of the foremost experts in the world on ultrafine particles and the Butler Eagle didn't see fit to cover the event. Dr. Michael McCawley, a scientist, not an anti-fracking advocate, outlined the catastrophic consequences of ultrafine particles on human health (childhood asthma, cardiopulmonary disease and cancer) and then shared research that links the production of ultrafine particles and shale gas extraction and infrastructure. Considering the steady drumbeat of scientific studies that have been released in this same vein in the last several weeks, McCawley's information was not surprising. What is surprising is the lack of interest by the self proclaimed "Butler County's great daily newspaper." Coupled with recent editorial decisions to cheer on this killer industry and to misrepresent and smear local residents trying to protect their homes and children, the Eagle is nonresponsive to the needs of the locals and doing the bidding of the invaders. Government agencies carrying water for invaders has a long and tragic history. Butler County government entities selling locals down the river adds another chapter. The Woodlands has been without water for over 4 years and dependent upon a water bank for over 3 and not a penny of local impact fees have been sent their way. About the only thing folks from the Woodlands have gotten from Connoquenessing Township and Butler County is a smearing of their character and a denial of science. If having your wells poisoned by nearby drilling isn't an impact, what is? But they aren't the only locals being sold down the river. Middlesex, Franklin and Butler townships and Connoquenessing Borough have also seen local officials act irresponsibly when it comes to protecting residents. The Butler School District acted recklessly in September, 2013 when they didn't cancel classes at Summit Elementary when the Kozik Brothers well was flaring 500 feet from the playground and 900 feet from the school. The recklessness continued this spring when the Butler Area School District decided to expand that school, putting more children in harm's way. One of Dr. McCawley's findings points to the risk to health when one is so close to a well (and a flaring well is even more problematic). Right on cue, XTO decided to expand the operation at the Kozik site. Of course, Summit isn't the only Butler Area school in close proximity to an active well. Connoquenessing Elementary is a mere 1900 feet from another well pad. And Butler isn't alone; unfortunately, children in other local school districts have also elected to put children at risk by leasing school properties and other school districts (and private schools and daycare centers) are threatened because of reckless neighbors. Butler County is an invaded community and the local press and government bodies do little more than act as cheerleaders and enablers. If the Eagle won't dig for truth and local politicians won't do our bidding, it's time for change. It's time for the Eagle to act like a "great daily paper" and it's time for the rest of us to kick the bums out. Michael Bagdes-Canning Cherry Valley |
Take Action - Sign a Petition
![]() Pennsylvanians Against Fracking steering committee member Food & Water Watch has obtained documents from the Pennsylvania Department of Health showing that the agency has had a clear pattern of responding inadequately to fracking-related health complaints. In many instances, the Department of Health responded to serious health complaints by pushing the complaint onto another agency or suggesting that individuals seek out expensive tests on their own dime.
Much of this negligence occurred before Governor Wolf came into office, but the problem is now his responsibility. Governor Wolf must act immediately to halt fracking in Pennsylvania now, and put forward a plan to help individuals already adversely impacted by fracking. We're asking our friends everywhere to join us in calling on Gov. Wolf to protect the people of Pennsylvania. Please sign and share our petition! |
![]() An online petition urges the PA Department of Environmental Protection to include a one-mile setback between the property boundaries of oil and gas infrastructure and the property boundaries of school properties in its revisions to state regulations for above ground oil and gas operations.
If you haven't done so already, please sign and share this petition to keep our schoolchildren safe from the harmful effects of oil and gas operations. |
Fracking in the News

In the past few weeks, two major studies conducted in heavily-fracked areas of Pennsylvania have indicated dire health consequences for people, and in one study, especially children, who live in close proximity to shale-gas drilling and infrastructure.
In the report “Health Hazards to Fetuses, Infants, and Young Children in Heavily-fracked Areas of Pennsylvania,” Joseph J. Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project found disturbing links between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and health effects in children younger than five years old, including higher incidences of infant mortality, perinatal mortality, low-weight births, premature births, and cancer in children ages zero to four than what was found in the rest of Pennsylvania.
The other study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, found that residents of two northeastern Pennsylvania counties with a high density of active shale gas wells were more likely to be admitted to the hospital for heart, nervous system and other medical conditions than residents in neighboring areas with no drilling.
While the authors of both studies were careful to state that neither study is in itself conclusive, and that more studies need to be done (and they have been and will be), there is a growing mountain of evidence within the medical community that strongly suggests that shale-gas drilling and infrastructure should be kept, at the very least, one mile away from vulnerable populations like our children, if not further...
In the report “Health Hazards to Fetuses, Infants, and Young Children in Heavily-fracked Areas of Pennsylvania,” Joseph J. Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project found disturbing links between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and health effects in children younger than five years old, including higher incidences of infant mortality, perinatal mortality, low-weight births, premature births, and cancer in children ages zero to four than what was found in the rest of Pennsylvania.
The other study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, found that residents of two northeastern Pennsylvania counties with a high density of active shale gas wells were more likely to be admitted to the hospital for heart, nervous system and other medical conditions than residents in neighboring areas with no drilling.
While the authors of both studies were careful to state that neither study is in itself conclusive, and that more studies need to be done (and they have been and will be), there is a growing mountain of evidence within the medical community that strongly suggests that shale-gas drilling and infrastructure should be kept, at the very least, one mile away from vulnerable populations like our children, if not further...
![]() Tests find radiation in tributary of the Monongahela. Read more...
Fracking health complaints received little follow-up from the Department of Health. Read more...
As drillers pull back hiring, training programs shift focus. Read more...
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Surprising Countries Where Solar and Wind Are Booming. Read more...
Despite the majority of more than 50 speakers asking the South Fayette Township commissioners to vote against restricting natural gas drilling solely to industrial areas, commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday for the plan. Read more...
DEP seeks record fine of $8.9 million from Range Resources. Read more...
Fracking could be delayed for up to two years across UK after Lancashire council rejects test drilling. Read more...
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10 key excerpts from Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment. Read more...
![]() ![]() American Medical Association blasts secret shale records. Read more...
Pope Francis: The Cry of the Earth. A blog by Bill McKibben. Read more...
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Video of the FREEDOM FROM FRACKING concert that took place on May 16 at Mr. Small's in Etna.
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AUGUST
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SEPTEMBER
Third Annual Fossil-free Energy Fair & Electric Car Cruise! September 12, 2015 11 am - 5 pm Kohl's lower parking lot at Cranberry Commons (Rt. 228), Cranberry Township, PA 16066 |