Keep Tap Water Safe

Van Wagner teaches Environmental Science at Lewisburg High School in Pennsylvania. He’s also an accomplished country-folk musician who has donated his time to teach music to kids at Pennsylvania summer camps. I came across this compelling plea on Wagner’s website:

“I have played music at several summer camps for children who are cancer survivors.  Camp Victory / Camp Dost and Camp Can-Do to name a few local examples.  These children are amazing.  I’m always amazed how grateful they are to me for spending a few hours simply singing with them.  It is I who should be thankful.  These children have smiles worth their weight in gold.  They are filled with joy and know more about love and friendship than most adults.  I challenge any fracking advocate to donate some time at one of these camps.  While there sit down at the dinner table with these kids and try to explain to them why grown-ups want to put more cancer causing chemicals in our environment because of things like energy, stock values and jobs.  

We must abandon hydraulic fracking immediately.  To my fellow citizens I ask you to stand with my wife and me.  Do not lease your land to a gas company.  We are ahead of the curve in Montour, Snyder, Central Columbia, and Northumberland Counties.  Let’s stay that way!”   ~ Van Wagner

Moved by his conviction, I clicked on the link to his song, “Big Water, Big Land”  in which the  singer-songwriter makes the point that the list of Pennsylvania’s streams poisoned by frack fluid spills is already too long. To quote Wagner’s refrain: “Big water, big land. Big poisons with no plan. Big business moving in. Don’t let `em rob us with a Texas fountain pen.”

In case you’re not in the mood for a musical interlude, here’s Wagner’s chronological list of Pennsylvania’s poisoned streams as of 2011:

Stevens Creek
Delaware River
Webier Creek
West Branch Susquehanna
Tioga River
Lycoming Creek
Burdick Creek
Pine Creek
Bobs Creek
North Branch Susquehanna
Muncy Creek
Sugar Run
T Creek
Towanda Creek

If A Pipe Leaks In The Woods…

Which stream is next? “Big Poisons” was recorded nearly  three years ago, so how many spills have occurred since then? Too many, and if a more recent incident in Kentucky’s Acorn Fork Creek is any indication, probably more than we’ll ever know.

“One of the things that bothers me the most about this case is that the scientists had been alerted to the fish kill ‘by a local resident.’ All spills are supposed to be reported—by the oil and gas company—to the National Response Center,” says a USGS scientist about a 2013 frack fluid spill and the resulting fish kill of an endangered species in Kentucky in 2013.  

Fracking Wastewater Spill Kills Rare Fish in KY, Puts Entire Species at Risk, by Amy Mall, NRDC via EcoWatch, August 29, 2013 

It’s time to ban fracking in Pennsylvania, before we run out of clean rivers and streams. Let your legislators know that you’re with Pennsylvania Voters Against Fracking by liking the group on Facebook, where you’ll find links and information about the candidates, and following on Twitter for the very latest news @StopFrackingPA.

And don’t forget to VOTE in the Pennsylvania Primary Elections – Tuesday, May 20, 2014!

Tags: Frack Fuid Spill, PA Creeks, PA Rivers, PA Streams, Van Wagner, Voters Against Fracking

This entry was posted on April 15, 2014 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Environment, fresh water pollution, hydraulic fracturing, Pennsylvania Watersheds, shale gas pollution, Stop Fracking PA!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.