FrackMountain.com
March 15, 2010
Much of Pennsylvania sits atop an ocean of “natural” gas trapped within a humongous layer of shale. It is called the Marcellus formation and lies more than a mile below the surface. To extract such entombed “resources”, big oil will fracture and pulverize the shale beneath us to free the gas. This is not popping a bubble, this is boring and exploding tunnels beneath you.
I live in an area called the Back Mountain. It is upland northwest of a large and populated valley. The Back Mountain comprises over 100 square miles and is home to approximately 27,000 humans. It is a verdant and pastoral quilt of relatively thriving communities and two small university campuses. Everything that happens here drains to the Susquehanna River then into the Chesapeake Bay.
Recently, EnCana Corporation was given permission to drill three “exploratory” natural gas wells here.
There are many disadvantages and dangers associated with this activity. There is one advantage. Money. Gas companies are offering thousands of dollars per acre for landowners to lease their rights over to the drillers. Then, if there are operating wells on your property you also get a royalty. In these hard times, it seems a godsend to over taxed and forgotten farmers and land owners. I heard of one man who signed a lease because he needed a new roof on his house. Most do so in ignorance of the real consequences and potential risks.
Here is a partial list of our concerns: endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, radioactive mud, hydrocarbons, massive truck traffic, lower property values, higher crime rates, spills, violations, fish kills, pipelines, spoiled wells, ill neighbors, and on and on it seems to go.
In early February I became involved in a movement to stop (or at least contain) this usery. We are organizing. One initiative was to establish a web presence with links to information. Therefore, I started the blog FrackMountain.com.
This is the reason I am rarely here at qazse.
Thanks, Herb
On Extended Vacation
January 29, 2008
I have decided to stop posting for several months. I am sure that from time to time I will post something here or there. However I must stop for now. It is not that I have run out of ideas or interest. It is that I have to run elsewhere.
To my Blogroll: thank you from the depths of my soul. You have given me such strong support and encouragement. I have benefited more than you will ever know.
I am sorry I did not get around to read and comment as much as I should have. It is something I always felt guilty about (dead beat blogger) and one of the considerations in my decision. Reading other people’s stuff is just as much part of blogging as is posting. When I return I will do so only when I have the time to visit other blogs. That will be enjoyable.
I started this project almost two years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed your work and comradierie. It reaffirms my belief that we are all gifted in myriad ways.
till then
peace
About – my didacticism
November 19, 2007
I am often didactic. I know it can be a turn-off. I am sorry. I can’t help myself.
I believe our human problems are solvable. I believe there is wisdom at our disposal. Yet our consciousness is busy with busy work. We are all busy keeping once-useful now-archaic notions alive.
Ideas such as privilege or eternal damnation seem axiomatic to most. They legitimize division and dismissal. Yet my faith and observation is that God shares everything and never gives up on anyone.
I sense urgency in the air and within myself. Each day brings more sad news. But the tragic has become entertainment rather than a call to action. The very things we ought to be alarmed about become our anesthesia.
People are innately philosophical. If they are given the opportunity (including the freedom and encouragement to think independently) they will find a way to get along.
I need to be a part of that process in several different ways.
My First Post (one year later):
March 4, 2007
March 14th, 2006
I really don’t know what I am doing yet. I’m not sure why I started this blog apart from a strong compulsion to do so. Perhaps my spirit needs to formalize something to leave behind. Maybe this is the equivalent of a cave wall.
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qazse 