Thanks to my growing network of contacts on the north branch of the Susquehanna River, yesterday I was made aware of yet another 2 million gallon per day withdrawal site being proposed on the Susquehanna near Sugar Run, PA by none other than Chesapeake Energy. The proposed site is only a few hundred yards downstream from where the Susquehanna continues to bubble methane...thanks to Chesapeake.
If my reckoning is correct, the proposed intake point is less than 100 yards downstream from where a local outfitter launches their canoes and kayaks into the Susquehanna for trips to Laceyville and beyond.
Take your pick, folks. Paddle through a bubbling field of noxious gases...or maneuver around the warning buoy where the water is being silently sucked away, laced with toxic chemicals, and pumped underground under extreme pressure - ne'er to be seen again...or so they claim.
This must be stopped.
I'm waiting for a version of the commercial that runs at least once per break on CNN to go something like this:
ReplyDelete"We're America's Natural Gas Extractors, and here's what we did today:
"- Pumped another few million gallons of clean, clear water out of the environment and into pockets underground, where (we hope) it will never be seen again.
"- Extracted a few million gallons of wastewater from fracking sites and dumped them into holding ponds, or dumped them into creeks and streams, or just opened the valves on our waste trucks and let them go...well, anywhere!
"- Contaminated a few more drinking water wells. Hey, people, get with the program. Get hooked up to municipal water!
"- Reduced property values across Pennsylvania by destroying both natural beauty and peace and quiet.
"- Wrecked hundreds of miles of back-country roads that were never meant to take the kind of punishment our trucks dish out.
"- Spent big money making sure that politicians voye the right way, and buying up ad and sponsorship space on TV and the radio.
"- And one thing we didn't do today: Pay any extraction taxes!"