Gasland - 10/27/10

There will be a free community screening of the documentary Gasland on:

Wednesday, October 27th
6:30 - 9:00pm
Mifflin School Auditorium

Hope to see you there.

Town Hall Meeting 9/1/10

Please join us for a town hall meeting on Wednesday, September 1st to discuss issues pertaining to the Marcellus drilling in the state.

The meeting will be held in the basement meeting room of the Lincoln Place Presbyterian Church on Muldowney Avenue at 7:30 pm.

Attendees will State Senator Jay Costa, who will be on hand to help address any questions and concerns you have about this important issue.

Save the Date - 10/1/10

On October 1st there is going to be a conference for industry reps and pro-drilling concerns at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh.

There is now a growing movement to organize a protest rally and march for those communities, organizations and individuals who are opposed to this drilling process. For more information, please visit their site:
http://www.marcellusprotest.org/

Thursday's Hearing

Last Thursday a community hearing was held in Larwenceville by Councilman Dowd to discuss Chesapeake Energy's plans to drill in city neighborhoods:
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/energy/2010/07/drilling_in_lawrenceville.html

Safety Hearings

In response to the recent series of accidents, today Senator Bob Casey held a hearing in Pittsburgh to review safety concerns regarding the drilling in the state.

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2010/07/26/daily7.html

Casey is also one of the sponsors of the Frac Act in the Senate and has been concerned about drilling in the state for a long time.

Well Explosion

http://kdka.com/local/gas.well.fatal.2.1821020.html

After attending the County Council meeting on Wednesday and listening to the industry representatives state repeatedly how safe this drilling process was, I find it slightly ironic that there is an accident at another local drilling site less than 48 hours afterward.

I do not mean to make light of the situation as two people lost their lives in the explosion.

The point is that this is a dangerous industrial process that has many short-term and long-term impacts to the communities and areas in which shale drilling is occurring and planned to take place.

What risks acceptable in this rush for gas in this state?

Update: As further information came to light about this incident, it was found that this site was not performing deep drilling in the Marcellus shale. It is however another example of the risks in any industrial operation, no matter how long the process has been in place.

Also of note, the nearest experts to deal with this type of emergency were flown in from Texas.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/24367420/detail.html

County Council

Unfortunately there was not as much press coverage of last night's County Council meeting, however Channel had a short piece on it:
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/24346947/detail.html

I would have wished some of the citizens and environmental groups had done a more vocal presentation during the initial Q&A period. However the public comments were long, detailed and very impassioned about their views and we wanted to thank everyone who came out and spoke.

Also, the meeting was only recessed, not adjourned, so we will have more opportunities to make our voices heard on this very important issue. We will let you know when that is as more information becomes available.

City Council

There was a lot of coverage about the Pittsburgh City Council meeting on Monday regarding the drilling that is coming to a neighborhood near you.
http://kdka.com/politics/Marcellus.shale.drilling.2.1801042.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10194/1072396-53.stm

Please remember that there is a similar meeting with Allegheny County Council on 7/21 and with the DEP and EPA on 7/22.

For more info and to speak at the county meeting click the following:
http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/agenda/2010/20100721_Public.pdf

The DEP site is having issues at the moment, but as as soon as I can I will post more links about the meetings on the 22nd.

Make your voice heard.

County Council Meeting - 7/21/10

Allegheny County Council is having a public hearing regarding Marcellus Shale drilling in Allegheny County.

The meeting is scheduled for July 21st at 5 pm. You must register if you wish to speak at the meeting.
http://www.alleghenycounty.us/council/meetings/index2010.aspx#

We will update you as more information becomes available.

Come out and make your opinion heard regarding this important issue impacting our communities. If you plan on attending please fee free to email us and let us know.

City Council Meeting - 7/12/10

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_688218.html

Pittsburgh's City Council is planning a meeting on the impact to city residents from the proposed drilling as well as Council's proposed legislation regulating and limiting drilling in city limits.

The meeting will be at 1pm on Monday July 12th.

If you plan on attending, please feel free to email us and let us know. We can try and coordinate transportation and make sure all our voices are heard.

Meeting - 6/28/10

We are having an open meeting on Monday, June 28th at 7pm. The meeting will be at the Elks Club on Mifflin Road next to the bowling alley.

Sorry for the short notice. But we are looking for more people who want to be involved as well as try to organize people who want to address our concerns to Pittsburgh City Council.

Please feel free to email with any questions. Hope to see you there.

More Gasland

As part of the promotional tour for Gasland, the documentary about deep gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, which is 5,000 feet below me as I type this, Josh Fox was on the Daily Show and interviewed as an addendum to their "The Strife Aquatic" segment:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-21-2010/josh-fox

(Yes drilling in the ocean is different than drilling on dry land, but are we any better off with either? Secondly, I love the Wes Anderson reference)

Crooks and Liars has their review of the film:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/sundance-breakout-documentary-gasland

And of course here is the rebuttal from the industry:
http://www.energyindepth.org/2010/06/debunking-gasland/

Letters to the Editor

A great way to get your voice heard regarding deep gas drilling is to write a letter to the editor. Just like these folks did:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10171/1066642-110.stm

Another way is to contact your local and state representatives. Pittsburgh City Council is getting more informed about the impacts of drilling
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10171/1066991-53.stm

And the best way to keep them working on your concerns is to let them know what you think.

Gasland - 6/21

The documentary Gasland is premiering on HBO next Monday, June 21st. It is a film about the natural gas drilling boom that is coming to Pennsylvania.

For more info, please visit the Gasland website: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

There was also an article and additional info on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100617/ap_en_ot/us_tv_gasland

Yard Signs

More yard signs are now available.


Show your opposition to drilling in our neighborhood and your support for the community.

The signs are only $15.

Please feel free to email us to place an order: lpactiongroup@gmail.com

Town Hall Meeting - 5/19/10

Lincoln Place Action Group invites you to a town hall meeting.

Wednesday, May 19th
7:00-9:00pm
Mifflin School Auditorium

What's Next???

This will be our second meeting with the community. The first meeting was to inform you of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling. This one is to answer your questions and to help you understand your options.

• If you have questions and concerns about the Marcellus Shale drilling issues, come ask.
• If you want to help stop the destruction of your neighborhood, join our group.
• Let's make our voice heard with our City, County and State governments.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

LPAG
412-567-3454
lpactiongroup@gmail.com

Rustbelt Radio

Rustbelt Radio and Pittsburgh Indy Media did another great piece about drilling in our area and have posted excerpts and interviews from our last meeting in April.

To listen to the article click the following link:
http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2010/05/35218.php

Or just listen to the whole show, and check back with them regularly. They do a great job at bringing you all the information you miss on the MSM.

Town Hall Meeting - 4/21/10

LINCOLN PLACE ACTION GROUP

Cordially Invites You to:

A TOWN HALL MEETING

Are you confused or concerned about what Marcellus Shale

Gas Drilling has to do with you and your neighborhood?

Do you want to become more educated on the effects that deep gas drilling will have on our neighborhood and on you personally?

Come and learn the facts:

§ The Real Effects of Marcellus Shale Gas

§ What Drillers and the PA DEP aren’t willing to tell you

WEDNESDAY APRIL 21^ST

7:00 -9:00 P.M.

MIFFLIN SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Lincoln Place, Pittsburgh, 15207

Help to make our voice heard with our City and State Governments

KDKA

Last Sunday a few members of the LPAG and a farmer from Hickory, PA were on the Chris Moore show on KDKA Radio to talk about a number of the issues regarding drilling operations in the area, as well as taking questions from concerned listeners.

What was really great was having Ron, the farmer from Hickory, tell his first hand experience with drilling on his property as well as the effects he witnessed from other operations in his area.

The interview lasted for two hours and a link to the two audio files can be found on Chris's page at KDKA:
http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/5664021.php

Fire in Hopewell Twp.

A waste water collection pond at a drilling site in Hopewell Township caught fire today.

The full article on WTAE: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/23017687/detail.html

A follow up article from the PG: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10091/1047159-58.stm

Long term impacts from drilling

Not only does the drilling process impact the community and environment while it is in process, but it also has long term effects on the surrounding communities and properties.

While the time to drill a single well is approximately 6-8 weeks, once it is complete it requires a significant amount of infrastructure to pump and filter the gas that it produces.

The more wells that are located in a given area, the more pumping stations that will be required. These pumping stations will be in use 24 hours a day for as long as the wells in that area are producing. Which can be upwards of 20 years.

The following is an article from the PG about the long term noise and air pollution from having compressors and pumping station in Hickory, PA:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042737-58.stm

Another potential issue to the drilling process is their seismic impact. Do drilling operations, which break apart a geologic layer of rock, cause earthquakes? What happens in the long term when layers of rock on top of the shale formation shift and settle?
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-06-15-drilling-earthquake_N.htm

Split Estate screening - 3/18/10

There will be a screening of the documentary "Split Estate" on Thursday, March 18th, hosted by the Environmental Law Council. The screening will be in Room 109 in the Barco Law Building at the University of Pittsburgh. The Barco Law Building is located on the corner of Forbes and Bouquet St.

The documentary focuses on the issues of gas drilling in the western states, however it involves many of the issues and impacts resulting from drilling that will be affecting our community.

For more info:
http://splitestate.com/

TDS in the water supply

Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, have been found in increasing amounts in the Monongahela River which is the water supply for many of the communities in Southwestern PA.

Pennsylvania American Water issues this water quality alert in November '09: http://www.amwater.com/alerts/alert10674.html

According to the PAW's web site, TDS are chemicals and minerals that end up in the water supply from a number of sources, including gas drilling operations.

PAW has, and does, work to ensure quality drinking water to its customers. The concern is that as drilling operations increase year after year, our water supplies are going to be used for supply and disposal of the frac water from drilling operations. Are the current facilities prepared for their increased use?

There have been a number of other alerts regarding 'unregulated compounds' in various PA water supplies: http://www.amwater.com/paaw/alerts/PA-AlertList.html

For additional information and pictures please see this article on Bob's Blog: http://www.donnan.com/fracking-water-2.htm

And this an article on Pro Publica's site regarding waste water issues: http://www.propublica.org/feature/wastewater-from-gas-drilling-boom-may-threaten-monongahela-river

This issue not only affects our communities, but everyone who uses the water supply between here a New Orleans.

Eyes on Drilling

The EPA has created a hotline for people to report any environmental issues resulting from drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Their phone number is toll free number is :1-877-919-4372, and their email is : eyesondrilling@epa.gov

For more information please see the following PG article:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10027/1031453-100.stm

Zoning Issues

One of the issues surrounding drilling in our communities is how the drilling sites will be zoned.

Zoning is important because local communities and municipalities cannot regulate or legislate drilling. Any legislation regarding Marcellus drilling in Pennsylvania can only be done at the state level.

However changes to existing zoning regulations must be done in a public hearing, which is were the community can get involved and voice their concerns.

For more information please see the following article:
http://www.eco-bucks.org/documents/Court%20zoning%20key%20to%20gas%20drilling.pdf

Wednesday

Several of our members will be speaking and answering questions about drilling at the upcoming 31st Ward meeting. The meeting will be:

Wednesday, February 24th
7:00 pm
Mifflin School cafeteria

We look forward to seeing you there.

Rustbelt Radio

As a follow up to the recent article in the Post Gazette, the Independent Media Center of Pittsburgh interviewed another one of the members of our group on their Rustbelt Radio program about our concerns regarding drilling in our neighborhood.

An audio of the program as well as a copy of the transcript can be downloaded here:
http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2010/02/33996.php

The Pittsburgh Independent Media Center is the portion of the global Indymedia network located in western Pennsylvania and is a voluntary collective dedicated to serving the local community with a system for disseminating print and online news.

For more information about their operation we encourage you to please visit their site at: http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/

A small point of clarification

Since the article was posted in the PG about our group and our concerns about drilling in Lincoln Place a number of people have confused us with the already existing 31st Ward Community Action Group and the 31st Ward Wire.

We wanted to make make sure that you knew that we were not affiliated with, or a part of the 31st Ward Community Action Group, or vice versa.

Yes, we do share similar concerns about what goes on in our neighborhood and are both diligently working to make it a better place for our neighbors, however we are not one in the same.

When we have issues and concerns that overlap, we have and will continue to work together, but we are two different operations with different goals.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at: lpactiongroup@gmail.com

Drilling Article in PG

One of our members addressed City Council to highlight a number of our issues and concerns with the proposed drilling operations in our neighborhood and was interviewed by the Post Gazette.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10035/1033374-53.stm

Wednesday Links

Propublica's archive of information on the impact of natural gas drilling.
http://www.propublica.org/series/buried-secrets-gas-drillings-environmental-threat

Shale Shock Action Alliance, an information resource for people affected by Marcellus Shale drilling.
http://www.shaleshock.org/

A Post Gazette article/interview with the new president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a lobbying group for the various drilling companies and business interests.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10024/1030407-28.stm

Republican candidate for governor, Samuel Rohrer' opinion on the use of gas royalties the state is expected to receive.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10022/1030229-454.stm

Barnett Shale Issues

As part of our research into issues affecting the 31st Ward, one of the best sources of information on the drilling process and its affects on communities is in the Ft. Worth Area in Texas.

The Barnett formation is a similar in make up to our local Marcellus shale formation. Many of the issues we will be seeing in the future have already affected and impacted the communties in and around Ft. Worth.

Additionally many of the companies currently working in Pennsylvania started and are also currently drilling in Texas.

The following is a link to an article regarding the chemicals used in the fracturing process and the loopholes in legislation regarding this process that currently do not require the drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use in drilling.:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-barnett_20met.ART0.State.Edition1.4ba4a7d.html

Post Gazette Article / January Meeting

Recent article from the PG about the state leasing the rights to a number of drilling companies:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10013/1027833-100.stm

A recent letter to the editor about the need for more regulation for regarding drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10012/1027464-110.stm

We will also be speaking at the January meeting for 31st Ward Community Action Group at Mifflin School Elementary on January 27th at 7 PM. Hope to see you there.