|
|
|
Protesters hit the streets to raise awareness about the harm of an industrialized future in a region which relies upon its rural beauty for tourism.
Protest walk organizer and Beach Lake resident Jackie DeSau said she decided to organize the walk because, among other things, allegations of conflict of interest among municipal officials in outlying townships who have a vested interest in natural gas drilling, but who also control township zoning laws.
“The majority of supervisors in our surrounding townships have interests in natural gas,” said DeSau, as she was flanked by about 20 protesters during Friday evening rush hour in Central Park.
She said information about natural gas has been too muddled by “corporate lies and twists.”
“A lot of lives are in jeopardy. It’s a tourist town. People won’t come here if its industrialized,” said DeSau, noting that she is not associated with any anti-gas drilling group, but was organizing as an individual.
Referring to the newly elected governor, DeSau said “Why are you not going to tax them, Mr. Corbett?”
DeSau said because of Gov.-elect Tom Corbett’s plan to not pursue a severance tax, Pennsylvania taxpayers will be stuck footing the bill for the potential mess the gas industry might create.
Another protester said she worries that the intensity of the debate on natural gas has already done permanent damage to relationships in this tight-knit rural community.
“It’s neighbor against neighbor in some places,” said Theresa McDevitt, a Beach Lake resident who said drilling should not occur until safer methods of gas extraction are created.
McDevitt and DeSau said they hoped the tense atmosphere over natural gas in Wayne County will not pit neighbor against neighbor as it has in Dimock, Susquehanna County.
A proposed water pipeline, which would provide residents with fresh drinking water, has polarized the township. Residents who would benefit from the pipeline claim their drinking wells were contaminated with methane by natural gas drilling, while those opposed say the wells have always been tainted.
“We care about each other,” McDevitt said, “we don’t want to see their land ruined.”
Protesters hit the streets to raise awareness about the harm of an industrialized future in a region which relies upon its rural beauty for tourism.
Protest walk organizer and Beach Lake resident Jackie DeSau said she decided to organize the walk because, among other things, allegations of conflict of interest among municipal officials in outlying townships who have a vested interest in natural gas drilling, but who also control township zoning laws.
“The majority of supervisors in our surrounding townships have interests in natural gas,” said DeSau, as she was flanked by about 20 protesters during Friday evening rush hour in Central Park.
She said information about natural gas has been too muddled by “corporate lies and twists.”
“A lot of lives are in jeopardy. It’s a tourist town. People won’t come here if its industrialized,” said DeSau, noting that she is not associated with any anti-gas drilling group, but was organizing as an individual.
Referring to the newly elected governor, DeSau said “Why are you not going to tax them, Mr. Corbett?”
DeSau said because of Gov.-elect Tom Corbett’s plan to not pursue a severance tax, Pennsylvania taxpayers will be stuck footing the bill for the potential mess the gas industry might create.
Another protester said she worries that the intensity of the debate on natural gas has already done permanent damage to relationships in this tight-knit rural community.
“It’s neighbor against neighbor in some places,” said Theresa McDevitt, a Beach Lake resident who said drilling should not occur until safer methods of gas extraction are created.
McDevitt and DeSau said they hoped the tense atmosphere over natural gas in Wayne County will not pit neighbor against neighbor as it has in Dimock, Susquehanna County.
A proposed water pipeline, which would provide residents with fresh drinking water, has polarized the township. Residents who would benefit from the pipeline claim their drinking wells were contaminated with methane by natural gas drilling, while those opposed say the wells have always been tainted.
“We care about each other,” McDevitt said, “we don’t want to see their land ruined.”
