Marcellus Shale
Awareness
Using the cover of a fake grass-roots organization - Consumer Energy Alliance - the drillers almost exactly echo council's fear tactics against our Amendment Proposal. Why? If illegal, what do they have to fear?
Click the copy of the hype above for information on this shadow organization.
We had some really wonderful speakers at our seminar at the Hilton Garden Inn this past Saturday, Oct 15th. In case you missed it, we're providing some of their great presentations below. Pouné Saberi, MD, MPH Provides: Health Impacts of Unconventional Natural Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania
Lynda Farrell, Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety Coalition, provided us with the PDF of her comprehensive Power Point presentation on issues surrounding gas pipeline work planned and on-going in our area.
Carla Campbell, MD, provides information on the health hazards of fracking on children. Children's Environmental Health and Fracking
Have you already defaulted on your mortgage just by signing a gas lease? Click the picture above for the New York Times article on the possible entanglements with owning, selling and buying gas-leased property. Also check out our Property Values page for information on what’s at risk besides your health.
Urgent!
Notify the DEP of your concerns over the proposed M3 pipeline throug Peters Township: Letter from GAI Consultants to Atkins.
Business as usual, Township Council did not notify the public about this proposal. Here is the citizen complaint line of the DEP 1-866-255-5158. Please pass this on and ask people to call.
Also, please contact your township council members and ask them why there was no public hearing concerning this: Council's email addresses
What happens when a 36” natural gas pipeline is drilled into by accident? Check out the video by clicking the picture below. Yes, those specks are cars.
The body of the worker manning the boring rig was found three hundred yards from the site of the explosion. There is nothing that separates the conditions that could create such accidents from happening in Peters Township, PA, rather than North Texas. Nothing, except the fact that there is far more activity in Southwestern Pa that could lead to a similar accident, and there are far more people in the path of harm. If you think that you are immune from a similar situation because you live in the Eastern portions of Peters, think again. Remember that every shale gas well dug in Peters Township will need a pipeline to connect to such gathering lines as the proposed M3. These lines will spider out across Peters Township. As more of these pipeline companies apply for public utility status, you may end up with no say at all if the plans happen to indicate the pipeline running through your property. This will happen under the township’s mineral extraction ordinance.
Unfortunately, there are myriad and well-documented environmental and safety issues associated with this industry. We believe that the long-term risks with shale gas extraction far outweigh any short-term economic gains. We find this to be especially true when considering whether denser populations in residential communities like Peters Township should be exposed to those risks.
Please take time to review the information and links provided in the Resources pages on the coming dangers to our safety and health:
Drilling 101 - Descriptions of the methods used in hydraulic fracturing.
Property Values - How can you expect this industrial activity to effect the value of your home and property.
Water - There's eminent danger from hydraulic fracturing to our own city water supplies.
Air- Cleaner than coal? Check the links and information this page that cast doubt on this gas industry claim.
Join the discussion on the latest news and commentary concerning Shale gas extraction on the Blog page (replaces the News page).
Take action by working with our group to support stronger regulation within Peters Township through our Action page.
Check our calendar to see how you can get more involved by attending local Events and education activities.
Please keep checking back for updates as we continue to develop and update these pages. Please let us know of any issues, i.e., dead links, by emailing info@ptmsa.com.
Thank you!
The Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness Group
p.s. Please let us know of any broken links, typos or other house cleaning items at the email address below
site! November 9th, 2011
While only gaining 17.5 percent of the vote in Peters Township for the amendment to the Home Rule Charter, we have to be extremely pleased with the courage and determination of this group of voters. They had the capacity to think through the hype from township council, the usurped resources of the Republican Party and an incredible and slick media blitz by the gas industry.
We hope that council is fully aware that 17.5% in no way comprises the amount of people that are opposed to any drilling in Peters Township; only the percentage of voters who refused to be cowed by the falsehoods of the township and gas industries messages and/or those that would ban this industry even if those messages actually reflected some worse case reality.
As a group we do feel that our work over this last year has made significant progress toward reaching our goal and primary mission of raising awareness of this coming menace to our community. We obviously have more to do in regards to this effort and will continue to work towards that end.
Five reasons for you to vote for this amendment.
Open letter letter to Peters Towship Citizens from PTMSA.
Letter by PTMSA member, Cathy Eddy, on misplaced partisan politics.
Letter to the Editor by PTMSA member, Jane Coppola. This is response to Matt Pitzarella’s (Range Resources) letter to the Editor in the Almanac on Oct. 5, 2011
Fellow Peters Township resident, Bob Donnan, has updated Bob's Blog with an excellent summary on our township council's continuing efforts to block their own written democratic process.
A general information letter on PTMSA by member, Dennis Ceccarelli, and one on property values.
Updates on Peters Towship Council's battle against democracy.
10/7/11 - Follow the link to the article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that indicates further plans by Peters Township council to waste taxpayer dollars in an effort to hamper our initiative. Of course, included in those tax dollars are those contributed by the more than 2400 residents that have supported and already signed the petition for the Amendment of our Home Rule Charter to be placed on the Ballot. Jules Lobel, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who represented the group in court, said that although people should be free to campaign for or against the ban, it would be "unseemly" for the township to use taxpayer money to take a position.” This is on top of the wasted Peters taxpayer’s dollars for the poorly researched and executed plan for the injunction against the ballot question. Consider that the Township Manager and Solicitor were delivered a copy of the proposed amendment three months ago and prior to the petition drive. Also consider that the filing for the injunction took place over a month after the sign petitions were delivered and certified by the Washington County election board. The township solicitor, William Johnson, had over a month to determine whether a challenge to the petition could be successful before he filed for the injunction on behalf of township council. The resulting score...
Understanding the Law:
PTMSA/CELDF - 1
Peters Township Council/Bill Johnson - 0
10/3/11 - Peters Township Citizens Prevail: Local Bill of Rights and Fracking Ban to Appear on Ballot! Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky turned down a request by Peters Township Council to bar a referendum question from appearing on the ballot in November that, if approved by the voters would create a local Bill of Rights and ban fracking.
9/28/11 – Court date: Our special thanks to University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor, Jules Lobel, for flawlessly delivering on the threshold issue before the opposing attorneys mandated by Judge Pozonsky: Does the placement of our amendment on the ballot cause immediate harm to the township. CELDF attorney Thomas Linzey worked closely with Jules, both on a pro bono basis, to provide the clear examples of case law to prove that it didn’t. Meanwhile, Peters Township solicitor, Bill Johnson could provide only some vague argument concerning the negotiation of leases during the election process.
9/26/11 – Thank you Jay Hornack, for filing the CELDF prepared petition to intervene, answer and arguments in front of Judge Pozonsky
9/13/11 - Peters Township Council strikes a blow against democracy!
In an unprecedented move against their citizens, on Monday, September 12th, Peters Township Council voted unanimously to place an injunction against the placement of PTMSA’s proposed Amendment to our Home Rule Charter on November's election ballot. In their ignorance and arrogance, council has determined that the most educated community in Washington County is unable to responsibly decide for themselves what future is possible for their families.
We did it!
Thanks to your help and the dedicated work of many PTMSA members, we've collected 2422 signatures. That's more than 2 1/2 times the quantity we needed to place our question on the November 8th General Election Ballot! This question provides the residents of Peters Township the vehicle to choose whether to adopt a change in our Home Rule Charter. This change of charter includes a bill of rights and incorporates a ban on shale gas drilling within the township boundaries.
Monday, August 8th, 2011 - PTMSA member Cathy Eddy delivers the petitions with 2422 signatures to Larry Spahr, Washington County Director of the Board of Elections.
PTMSA is teaming with CELDF (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund) to help draft this charter change. Click here for more in depth information on Home Rule Charters from CELDF
What does it mean to change our Charter?
Peters Township is a "home rule" township. This means it creates its own laws on any topic not exclusively regulated by the state or federal government. The set of local laws that govern the township are collectively referred to as the Township's Charter. The Charter may be amended either by action of the elected government officials or through a citizen petition. This ballot question is presented as the result of a citizen petition. The amendment proposes an addition to the Home Rule Charter to establish a local "Bill of Rights" which asserts the right of residents of the Township to local self-government, to water, air, the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, and their right communities and ecosystems, and empowers community members with the right to establish energy policies for future sustainability. It establishes rights for natural communities and ecosystems, and empowers community members with legal standing to enforce those rights.
To secure the local Bill of Rights, corporations would be prohibited from extracting natural gas within the Township, with the exception of gas wells already established and in operation at the time of adoption of this amendment. In addition, corporations engaged in the extraction of natural gas, or intending to do so in the township, would no longer be legally viewed as "persons" and could not avail themselves of protection of the state or federal constitutions in a way that would nullify the rights of human and natural communities recognized in those constitutions and by this Charter.
Special thanks to Joe Seamans for providing the spectacular panoramas of Washington County Marcellus shale operations that top each page. Check out his work on Gigapan: http://gigapan.org/profiles/32132/