Newsletter - Full Edition - January 2016
We begin this new year with what will hopefully be a monthly newsletter moving forward, and when you see the size of the January 2016 newsletter you'll know why! There is SO MUCH HAPPENING, locally, nationally and globally, with regard to the fracking issue and attendant issues like climate change and renewable energy, that we need a monthly newsletter to attempt to keep up with it all! So here is our initial attempt for 2016; it comes with a fervent wish that the news will become increasingly better as the year goes along...
Butler County: Impacted
Photo courtesy Michael Bagdes-Canning
On Dec. 9, 2015, county resident and MOB member Michael Bagdes-Canning delivered a statement to the Butler County commissioners at their regularly-scheduled meeting. (Read statement here.) In that statement, Michael cited several health studies that point to the dangers of unconventional drilling and its infrastructure for children and the elderly. He mentioned drilling sites located perilously close to Butler County schools. He talked about the ongoing water problems of the Woodlands neighborhood in Connoquenessing Twp. He criticized county leadership for failing to acknowledge these dangers and for refusing to use impact fee monies on genuine impacts in the county caused by the natural gas extraction industry. Michael had a lot to say and was intent on saying it. When his three minutes of public comment were up he continued speaking. He continued speaking as he was gently escorted out of the room by sheriff's deputies. His statement was applauded by MOB supporters in attendance at the meeting, who then used their three minutes to sing a lovely anti-fracking Christmas carol to the commissioners. (See video here.)
A few days later, the Butler Eagle published a "jeer" in response to Michael's statement to the commissioners, calling his citing of health studies linked to fracking "scare language." In the same edition, there was a letter published by industry mouthpiece David Spigelmyer of Marcellus Shale Coalition which likewise sought to diminish the importance of these health studies. This elicited a response from Baltimore pediatrician Dr. Margaret Flowers, M.D., who, in a letter to the Eagle, refers to the "significant and growing body of scientific evidence that fracking for oil and gas is dangerous to human and animal health" in support of Michael's comments to the commissioners (read the letter here.) MOB member Joseph McMurry also submitted a letter to the Eagle, which quoted Dr. Brian Schwartz, M.D., lead researcher of a recent Johns Hopkins University study linking fracking to premature births and high-risk pregnancies: "The first studies have all shown health impacts. Policymakers need to consider findings like these in thinking about how they allow this industry to go forward." (see letter here)
In relation to the latter quote, what really can Butler County's "policymakers" do to address the dangers linked to shale-gas drilling and its infrastructure? The easiest thing they could do would be simply to acknowledge that such dangers exist! This might conflict with the business interests of outgoing commissioner Bill McCarrier, whose family is in the pipeline business, or newly elected commissioner Kim Geyer, who has a prominent well-pad on her property near the Mars Area School District campus and is a member of XTO Energy's community advisory board, but surely the rest of them could acknowledge the potential and actualized harms which fracking creates? They could also educate themselves about the failures of the PA Department of Environmental Protection to actually protect residents from these harms (see DEP Under Fire, MOB Newsletter, Dec. 2015) and act as advocates for county residents who feel they have been underserved by that agency.
Perhaps the most obvious thing the commissioners could do to address the harms of drilling is to apply state impact fees directly to the actual harmful impacts in the county that have been caused by drilling. At the Dec. 9 meeting it was stated that impact fees could be used to address certain county budget shortfalls -- this in the face of widespread allegations of fiscal mismanagement on the part of the commissioners. Outgoing commissioner McCarrier stated at the meeting that such uses are "legal." That may be so, but one has to ask: is it moral? Is it moral to use drilling impact fees on holes in the budget when 50 families in Connoquenessing Township are without potable water and have been for five years? The research of Dr. John Stolz, Duquesne University, has left little doubt that drilling and fracking activities in the Woodlands area have led to widespread aquifer contamination. And what of the county schools that have drilling in close proximity to them? While the commissioners have no jurisdiction over local zoning (though they could advocate for safer zoning practices), they could spend impact fees on air-quality monitoring equipment for schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly that are located near frack sites, and "air scrubbers" that would keep airborne toxins from entering buildings.
In summary, there are a number of things that Butler County commissioners can do with regard to shale-gas drilling impacts in the county. They can begin by acknowledging that there are negative impacts occurring in the county besides the wear and tear on roads (although that is certainly an impact). They can acknowledge that drilling was at least a contributing factor to the Woodlands residents' water woes and pledge impact fee money and other assistance for correcting that longstanding problem. And they can pledge impact fee money to purchase a modicum of protection in the form of monitoring equipment and scrubbers for schools, day-cares and elder homes that have drilling or infrastructure located nearby.
These are things that the Butler County commissioners can do. Whether they will do them is another matter. One thing is for certain: MOB will be around to remind them that they have a moral obligation to do all these things and more before they even think about using impact fees to try and fix the county budget.
A few days later, the Butler Eagle published a "jeer" in response to Michael's statement to the commissioners, calling his citing of health studies linked to fracking "scare language." In the same edition, there was a letter published by industry mouthpiece David Spigelmyer of Marcellus Shale Coalition which likewise sought to diminish the importance of these health studies. This elicited a response from Baltimore pediatrician Dr. Margaret Flowers, M.D., who, in a letter to the Eagle, refers to the "significant and growing body of scientific evidence that fracking for oil and gas is dangerous to human and animal health" in support of Michael's comments to the commissioners (read the letter here.) MOB member Joseph McMurry also submitted a letter to the Eagle, which quoted Dr. Brian Schwartz, M.D., lead researcher of a recent Johns Hopkins University study linking fracking to premature births and high-risk pregnancies: "The first studies have all shown health impacts. Policymakers need to consider findings like these in thinking about how they allow this industry to go forward." (see letter here)
In relation to the latter quote, what really can Butler County's "policymakers" do to address the dangers linked to shale-gas drilling and its infrastructure? The easiest thing they could do would be simply to acknowledge that such dangers exist! This might conflict with the business interests of outgoing commissioner Bill McCarrier, whose family is in the pipeline business, or newly elected commissioner Kim Geyer, who has a prominent well-pad on her property near the Mars Area School District campus and is a member of XTO Energy's community advisory board, but surely the rest of them could acknowledge the potential and actualized harms which fracking creates? They could also educate themselves about the failures of the PA Department of Environmental Protection to actually protect residents from these harms (see DEP Under Fire, MOB Newsletter, Dec. 2015) and act as advocates for county residents who feel they have been underserved by that agency.
Perhaps the most obvious thing the commissioners could do to address the harms of drilling is to apply state impact fees directly to the actual harmful impacts in the county that have been caused by drilling. At the Dec. 9 meeting it was stated that impact fees could be used to address certain county budget shortfalls -- this in the face of widespread allegations of fiscal mismanagement on the part of the commissioners. Outgoing commissioner McCarrier stated at the meeting that such uses are "legal." That may be so, but one has to ask: is it moral? Is it moral to use drilling impact fees on holes in the budget when 50 families in Connoquenessing Township are without potable water and have been for five years? The research of Dr. John Stolz, Duquesne University, has left little doubt that drilling and fracking activities in the Woodlands area have led to widespread aquifer contamination. And what of the county schools that have drilling in close proximity to them? While the commissioners have no jurisdiction over local zoning (though they could advocate for safer zoning practices), they could spend impact fees on air-quality monitoring equipment for schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly that are located near frack sites, and "air scrubbers" that would keep airborne toxins from entering buildings.
In summary, there are a number of things that Butler County commissioners can do with regard to shale-gas drilling impacts in the county. They can begin by acknowledging that there are negative impacts occurring in the county besides the wear and tear on roads (although that is certainly an impact). They can acknowledge that drilling was at least a contributing factor to the Woodlands residents' water woes and pledge impact fee money and other assistance for correcting that longstanding problem. And they can pledge impact fee money to purchase a modicum of protection in the form of monitoring equipment and scrubbers for schools, day-cares and elder homes that have drilling or infrastructure located nearby.
These are things that the Butler County commissioners can do. Whether they will do them is another matter. One thing is for certain: MOB will be around to remind them that they have a moral obligation to do all these things and more before they even think about using impact fees to try and fix the county budget.
Fracking in the News 01-16
Rock to Block Protest Photo courtesy Tom Jefferson
Local/Regional Actions & EventsOn Dec. 21, a group of county grandparents took to their rocking chairs to block the entrance to the Geyer well pad in Middlesex Twp. to protest Rex Energy's undertaking of a known toxic industrial process in close proximity to the Mars Area School District campus. See more here.
Read Michael Bagdes-Canning's blog re: the rock-to-block protest here. This unfortunate event also occurred at the rock-to-block protest. The individual in the video has since been fired from his place of employment for this performance. WARNING: video contains offensive language, including racial epithets, as well as the usual comments about how jobs and money make it okay to poison our children and our communities... View video here. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman calls John Pisone's racist rant "a crude metaphor for all of the man-made ignorance that makes environmental degradation possible.." Read more here. Delving into that "crude metaphor" further, the coverage of the incident by Revolution News draws comparisons between the racist rant and the harms inflicted upon communities by Rex Energy and the gas extraction industry in general. For example, RN reports that the "astonishing cruelty" displayed by Rex Energy when workers, under their orders, collected water buffaloes from residents of the Woodlands in 2012 and spilled hundreds of gallons of clean water onto the ground, "surpasses the racist bullying and shocking lack of empathy displayed by Pisone. Pisone’s ugliness is different only in degree.” Read more here. 
In early December, the "Ghost of Climate Future" could be seen marching through downtown Pittsburgh as part of a Christmas Carol-themed protest against climate change. Organized by Three Rivers Rising Tide, the demonstration called out ties between local corporations and the Allegheny County government, calling them "climate Scrooges." Read more here.
In Allegheny County, EQT could drill up to 20 Marcellus Shale gas wells on a single pad in Jefferson Hills, next to the property where the West Jefferson Hills School District plans to build its showcase high school and campus. The school district’s solicitor, Ira Weiss, said the location and size of EQT’s well development proposal is causing the district a “high level of concern,” adding that the EQT notification letter shows the well drilling project as “less impactful than what it will be.” Read more here. Murrysville (Westmoreland County) planning officials and residents last month discussed a proposed ordinance that would add regulations for unconventional natural gas drilling in the municipality as part of a process that allows Murrysville council to move forward with consideration of the proposal. The proposed ordinance includes additional setbacks for well pads and other requirements not included in Murrysville's current ordinance that regulates unconventional natural gas drilling. Read more here. In Athens County, Ohio, citizens are taking matters into their own hands by doing baseline water testing near toxic fracking waste injection wells. Read more here. Six citizens from both New York and New Jersey impacted by a controversial fracked-gas power plant in Orange County were arrested last month as they blocked the construction site. They say the project creates unacceptable health and safety risks to the public. Read more here. Direct action protesting not your thing? There are plenty of other things you can do to protest shale-gas drilling and infrastructure. Write a letter to your local newspaper; speak at a local municipal or county meeting; talk to your neighbors, friends and co-workers about the dangers associated with unconventional gas development. It doesn't need to be anything long or fancy, but it helps if it comes with passion from your heart. Use a story from our newsletters as a focus for your statement -- whatever grabs your attention the most and says to you: "This is not good. THIS MUST BE STOPPED!!!" ... And if direct-action protesting IS your thing, please contact Michael Bagdes-Canning to learn how you can get involved! He's "in the book"... 
Research, Reports & Reviews
As the growth of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” transforms more rural landscapes across the heartland into industrial zones, companies are less willing to disclose the chemicals they inject into the ground, Harvard researchers have found. Read more here. A new study finds that the transformation of freshwater used for fracking to a highly saline liquid with abundant toxic metals is a natural consequence of water-rock reactions occurring at depth during or following fracking. Fracking wastewater poses a hazard to drinking water supplies if improperly disposed. Read more here. A new report by Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) criticizes the findings in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s “Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactivity Materials Study Report” (the TENORM Report) as inaccurate and incomplete, calling it "a cover up of the truth about the exposure of people to unsafe radioactivity levels from fracking." Read more here. 
Shale Health
A link to videos from the shale-gas health impact conference held at the University of Pittsburgh in Nov. 2015. View videos here. A recent study has linked chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing with lowered sperm counts. Read more here. A new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology is the first of its kind to confirm the carcinogenicity of fracking wastewater. Read more here. In an analysis of more than 1,000 chemicals in fluids used in and created by hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Yale School of Public Health researchers found that many of the substances have been linked to reproductive and developmental health problems. Read more here. |
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GO Green!
A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) states that the transition to a sustainable energy future by 2030 is technically feasible and economically viable. And a report from Stanford University lays out roadmaps for 139 countries to go 100 percent renewable by 2050. “The conversion to 100 percent renewables is technically and economically feasible. The main barriers are still social and political.” Read more here. Last month, the town board of Nassau in Rensselaer County, NY voted to get 100 percent of its power from renewables by 2020. Read more here. The Greater Essex County District School Board of Windsor, Ont. announced a 20-year deal worth about $6 million to lease school roof space for solar panel use. Butler County schools need to consider such clean-energy projects instead of leasing school properties for dirty fossil-fuel extraction. Read more here. 2015 was a big year for renewable energy in the U.S., with solar and wind power providing more than 5 percent of the nation’s electricity for the first time, and the country’s first offshore wind power project finally under construction. Read more here. A law passed in France last year mandates that all new buildings built in commercial zones must be partially covered with either plants or solar panels. Read more here. Fossil-Free Energy Fair is now the Go Green Festival! We've updated our name in an effort to share even more "green" living options. Click here to go to the Go Green Festival website! And make plans to attend the fourth annual Go Green Festival plus Electric Car Show and Cruise! -- Sept. 10, 2016! |
What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world?
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Upcoming EventThe screening of a film on Climate Change by Naomi Klein, based on her book, "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate."
January 23, 1 - 3:30 PM Butler Public Library, 218 N. McKean Street, Butler, PA 16001 [map] Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. Inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller This Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better. Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization and of corporate capitalism. Her critically acclaimed new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, is the 2014 winner of the prestigious Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Download flyer here. |
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The Woodlands
The people of Connoquenessing's Woodlands still need you. Please donate what you can to help supply them with fresh water. |
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Please consider a donation to
Marcellus Outreach Butler this New Year!!! |
