Grace Under Extreme Fracking Pressure
In case you didn’t notice, Pennsylvania already has a “Sacrifice Zone.”
Don’t believe it? Then I suggest you ask Rebecca Roter, who discovered months ago that her home is to be engulfed by the heavily industrialized business of shale gas production. Since then, Roter has been doing everything possible to obtain information on the scope and nature of a planned, GP-5 permitted compressor station project near her home in the Susquehanna region. She’s determined to protect the land she loves from air pollution, pipelines, noise, clear-cutting and truck traffic, but so far her efforts have only been stymied by the PA Department of Environmental Protection and other state agencies.
Roter recently initiated the Facebook Group, Constitution Pipeline Ferc Comments Needed NOW! PA NY eminent domain is coming! which is devoted to finding a path to real environmental protection from this project for her region. The group is currently petitioning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to mandate Dispersion Studies and regular ambient testing for this facility.
Seems reasonable. We all have a right to know what toxins energy producers are off-gassing in our own backyards, and in what quantities. It’s amazing how efficiently our state government approves gas production permits, but tracking fracking and gas production completely eludes them. The efforts of citizens like Rotor become mired in procedures and red tape.
I’m angry on Rebecca’s behalf. No one should have to deal with this. She’s not a scientist; she’s simply a tax-paying citizen who breathes air and values the sanctity of her home. Her experience living in Pennsylvania’s Sacrifice Zone demonstrates that, thanks to gas-happy politicians like Governor Corbett and Secretary Krancer, we’ve moved past the point where enough is enough.
Ya Think??? !!!!
If you are wondering what life is like in the Sacrifice Zone, spend fifteen minutes listening to Roter describe the situation. It’s easy to put yourself in her shoes, unless of course, you work for the Gas Industry, or the DEP.
Roter has also been harassed by a gas worker when visiting a local, historic cemetery. She was informed that the cemetery was “closed.”
Keep Tap Water Safe 
June 22, 2012 at 10:46 pm |
I love the idea of REAL postcards from the sacrifice zone. I’m a graphic artist… all I need are pictures, descriptions (who took the picture, where [zipcode, etc.], when, what happened/is happening, etc.) and we can print a bunch and send ’em to legislators, folks who think fracking is good and others…
Susan Norris
Harrisburg
Gas Truth of Central PA
June 26, 2012 at 1:44 pm |
I’m the other Roter in this tragedy and would only add that the threat to our quality of life doesn’t stop at our doorstep. Left to our Governor, the state legislature and DEP he controls, all of Pennsylvania is at risk from a rapacious gas industry given a free hand to operate as they please by this administration in Harrisburg.