Your Report
If your community is being impacted by Marcellus Shale gas drilling, please report your story below, as we’re working to document what’s happening locally, and to help organize accordingly.
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
we are posting on WTRF TV7 YouNews.we have a serious gas emission problem, as i write there is a roaring in the hollow below my farm and flames above the trees..we have headaches and other problems every time they are doing this…we cannot get the WVDEP to monitor this. Many families are getting sick.first the water and streams and noew the very air we breathe. Chris borelo needs help in stark co Ohio..any sierra club people close-frac proposed near nuclear and chemical dumps.
Hi Marilyn. I called the WVDEP and verified that there is NO air testing going on in West Virginia related to fracking. When I asked about this at the last UMRA/Watersheds Compact meeting, all I could establish is that WVDEP Oil and Gas says “It’s not our job” while WDEP Air Quality says “Oil and Gas should handle this.” This is an unacceptable state of affairs. I, with the help of others concerned about this issue, will apply our energies toward getting this administrative issue resolved one way or another. Clearly this is yet another impact of fracking that threatens our health. The WVDEP needs to step up to the bat and not stick their heads in the sand on this.
I never dreamed the air around my place I call home would be poison to me. No one is hearing our cry for help but they soon will be crying too. The very air we all breath is slipping through the hands of those who can stop this or is it too late? The birds and fish are dying. If they can’t live here how can you and I? I don’t belive this was the kind of energy every one needed. The doctors here in Pa or West Virgina can’t give us any answers to our sickness from compressor stations so we are left to go try and find on our own. I spend sleepless nights, my daughter and I, to try and find an answer for the children’s sake but time is runing out for us and other’s just like my family. The industry don’t hear the cries at night from headaches, body ache and burning throats when you walk through this air. Energy has to be even if it costs us our lives. I guess in a way we our serving our country only the battle is gas and we have no way to win. They’re just a bit bigger than you and I. They knew we didn’t have the thing’s to fight them with because they bought people through their contributions and they were our only fighting tool and when your tools break down your done. I and my daughter and five grandchildren stand with you in this fight together we will win this battle we have one tool they dont have and He’s been watching over my family. Lets join hands and give it all we have to win.
I must correct my previous post. It is not true that there is no air testing conducted in WV as I mistakenly stated above. There is limited air monitoring in operation in Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, Hancock, Marion and Monongalia counties. Since your post I have heard of families with acute symptoms from exposure to air pollution from gas handling equipment.
Last night I attended a meeting of the West Virginia Legislature’s Select Committee on Marcellus Shale in Clarksburg, WV. Drillers, their employees and industry contracters showed up en masse and early to sign up for individual, 2 minute speaking slots. Then each of them, in turn, used their alloted time to read their 2 minute portion of what was, in the aggregate, one long advertisement in support of hydraulic fracturing. They knew about the 2 minute rule, and because it did not suit their purpose, they simply devised a conspiracy to get around it. They cheated. If the oil and gas industry is willing to execute such a dishonest scheme in front of the committee members, the press and the public, what makes anyone believe they will ever comply with ANY rule or regulation the WV Legislature enacts? I wrote more on my blog: http://builtfromtrash.com/recyclablog/34-no-fracking-way
Fracking operation in Harrison County. “The noise is horrible.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45qQfXBdh74&feature=share
Natural Gas Data Cooperative Launched:
http://www.register-herald.com/local/x1243295104/Natural-gas-data-cooperative-launched
Gas Cooperative Panel answers questions from the public:
http://www.register-herald.com/local/x780409808/Marcellus-panel-answers-questions
West Virginia laws now offer substantial tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles and vehicle conversions to alternative fuels, including natural gas. Tax credits are also available for gas supply infrastructure, including home-based vehicle tank filling from a residential gas supply.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/Business/201109233455
Natural gas filling stations are starting to appear in states adjoining WV. Current price of CNG (compressed natural gas) is $1.90 per equivalent to a gallon of gasoline.
http://spilmanmarcellusnews.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/new-fueling-stations-for-cng-powered-vehicles/
Natural Gas burns cleaner than gasoline and results in less polution and substantially longer engine life.
Conversion of gasoline-powered vehicle is widely availabe by multiple U.S. manufacturers at prices around $2,000.
Hi folks,
This post might be off-topic but it also might help to find an explanation for the health problems some of you seem to be experiencing.
About a your ago my wife and I experienced a sudden phase of sleeplessness, headaches, nausea, dizziness, a stiff neck, anxiety attacks / depression as well as irritable bowl syndrome. Our family doctor had no explanation for those symptoms at all (we live in Southern Germany, BTW).
After quite some research it became clear that we appeared to suffer from what is called “WTS” (or wind turbine syndrome) – but there were no wind turbines within a 50 mile radius! It turned out that the very low frequency noise (LFN / IS) and vibration from a newly installed heating system in our neighbourhood that was the reason for our troubles.
To cut a long story short, the noise – mostly inaudible due to its low frequency – essentially “fooled” our brains with inconsistent data from ears (cochlea and otolith organs) and as a result we developed symptoms very similar to migraine and seasickness.
Maybe check this website: http://www.windturbinesyndrome.com/book.html and download the article “WTS and the brain” (explains in detail how “inaudible” noise can lead to sleeplessness and headaches).
Again, if you think my post is way off, feel free to delete it. But since our problem started I was doing quite some research and apparently A LOT of people worldwide are showing these (or similar) symptoms when exposed to low level infrasound and/or vibration: People living near wind farms, steel furnaces, sewage pumps, transformer stations (hum from the transformers, IS from the fans cooling the transformers), power stations … it’s always the same story.
Be warned though: when you say the word “infrasound” people will give you “the look” – as if you were one of those guys wearing tinfoil hats. But infrasound/LFN is real and it is harmful – even though you will find out soon enough that industry will hide behind the old “if you can’t hear it – how can it hurt you”? Sure: we can smell radioactivity, see UV rays, and taste salmonella, right?
Of course, there is a fair chance that you are also exposed to fumes/gasses and you need this to be checked. Infrasound on the other hand can be measured (ideally inside dwellings) even with fairly simple equipment so this is something you might want to check as well.
Good luck,
Frank
Kanawa County seeks to promote natural gas-powered vehicles:
http://www.dailymail.com/News/201201050208
Chesapeake/Nomac Rig #17 Hits Shallow Gas Pocket-Burns To The Ground
Read more: http://www.drillingahead.com/page/nomac-rig-17-blowout-chesapeake-energy#ixzz1iwFdrl80
http://www.truth-out.org/after-battling-fracking-and-cancer-lucinda-lost-and-found/1326391924
An organic farm in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, is under threat of drilling and fracking. The emotional impact on the surface land owners and residents is severe.
http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx?peid=689293c50f404f12b8c628b8f2285780
An organic farm in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, is under threat of drilling and fracking. The emotional impact on the surface land owners and residents is severe. A sociology professor has been examining and describing the human stresses involved.
President Obama now supports shale gas development and its use to run vehicles. Initial efforts will apparently be in support of Boon Pickens’ installing a pipeline to carry liquified natiral gas to truck stops along the interstates.
The only natural gas fueling station in West Virginia so far belongs to the FBI for their exclusive use: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/progs/ind_state.php/WV/CNG
But West Virginia now offers quite large tax credits to individuals and businesses for natural gas fueled vehicles and filling stations:
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/laws/laws/WV/tech/3253
Natural gas-fueled cars make a lot more sense to me than burning a corn ethanol and gasoline mix and Natural gas costs about a third as much as gasoline per mile travelled.
Every year we get a new crop of corn. The same can’t be said for natural gas.
The death of bats in Ohio, PA, WV and NY (white nose/fungus) is can be directly linked to the drilling/FRACKING of Marcellus shale in the area. If you take a map of the areas where bats are dying(eastern US) and overlay a map of the marcellus shale area(eastern US), there is an almost identical match. This is no coincedence. The bats are being compromised to the extent that their immune systems are unable to fight against the disease that they have not succumb to in these numbers in all their years living with us. Please check the maps and see. It must be from either the gas leaking into to caves or the fracking chemicals leaking into the caves. We dont even know how deep these caves go, they could easily be poisoned by this industry. Futhermore, some of these bats are being considered for the endangered species list. This is important.
Gas companies are stealing water right out the hydrants in Harrison County and the local PSD says they’ll have to consider a rate hike if it continues. Yeah, that’s fair. Make local residents pay for the water that outside corporations are STEALING from them. This is West Virginia at it’s finest, folks. Seeing as things won’t ever change due to state politicians being firmly planted inside the pockets of these corporations and locals being too ignorant to vote them out of office, I strongly encourage you to get out if you can.
http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view§ion=5-News&item=Sun-Valley-PSD-Water-Stolen-from-Fire-Hydrants3210
Driving down Sycamore Rd in south Harrison County this sunny dry AM we suddenly found ourselves driving over a long stretch of wet pavement leading up to a turnoff for a frack well. Could it be that they are just dumping frack water on the road? After that a frack truck nearly ran us off the narrow winding road. The trucks routinely drive at high speeds and swing wide on blind curves. About a month ago one of them took out the bridge guard rail at Sycamore and US-19.
Hello! I’m writing to see if today’s gaswell explosion in Harrison county which injured three persons seriously will have any effect on the well water in the area? Is anybody responsible to check that?
Mary. That is a good question. One would hope that inspectors from the WV Department of Enviromental Protection would do some investigation after an accident. But, inspectors in WV usually limit their work to routine activities. Plus, WV has a shortage of inspectors. Given the low pay rate approved by the Governor and Legislature, inspectors will be had to find and hard to keep on the job!
Most West Virginians Say Natural Gas Drilling Brings Opportunity
http://www.wdtv.com/wdtv.cfm?func=view§ion=5-News&item=Most-West-Virginians-Say-Natural-Gas-Drilling-Brings-Opportunity7949
The state of West Virginia has 1,855,413 residents. The article says that about 300 people participated in the survey. Since when does the opinion of only 300 people represent the opinion of 1,855,413 people?
My husbands family has rights in Marshall county. Has had them for YEARS with no royalty payments as of yet. How do we find out if we are OWED for the sites that are active? We are not in WV and have no access to records concerning volumes being produced. There are presently 9 wells on the site operated by several gas companies. We have heard nothing regarding activity on the sites or payments due if any.