Tag: Fracking

An Energy Rant

OK, I’m basically liberal in my leanings. I do think that the overabundant use and collection of fossil fuel is ruining the environment between mountain top removal for coal extraction and greenhouse gasses from the burning of it and natural gas as well as the fracking for that gas. The fracking process is poisoning ground water and the waste from it dumping chemical laden water in holding ponds and radium and radon sludge being dumped above ground. Once this coal or gas is extracted, it is transported to a coastal port via train and pipeline primarily to be exported overseas. All the while, the highways are clogged by petroleum guzzling semi trucks hauling goods around the country that could be more economically transported by rail.

If you have followed me for a while, you know that we are in the path of a proposed fracked gas pipeline, 42″ in diameter. Our region is limestone, karst topography, full of caves, sinkholes, 3 fault lines and every resident relies on groundwater from springs or wells for our water supply. Our immediate community is a Historic Preservation region with more than 300 historic and historical sites including two covered bridges, many that are also in the path of this pipeline. There are 3 significant caves on the path within 5 miles of our house, one containing endangered albino bats and all home of bat populations already threatened by the fungal white nose disease. In the meetings we have attended to learn more about this pipeline and to work to organize to oppose it, we have learned that a pipeline of this size, should it leak, causing an explosion, that the blast zone would be 2000 feet. That the industry accepted loss from these pipelines is 1% (probably higher if that is what they are reporting) and that methane would leech into our groundwater.

The company that is already using divide and conquer techniques and threatened lawsuits trying to force this through has a bad reputation for shoddy work and accidents and has many fines and a major lawsuit against it for damages in Kentucky.

To say we don’t want this in our backyard is an understatement, but we don’t want it anywhere, not just in our backyard. The years and dollars spent on this project would be much better spent on clean, alternative energy. Natural gas, especially fracked natural gas is not clean. It produces more greenhouse gas than burning coal. Don’t be deceived by the “Clean Coal” and “Clean Natural Gas” advertisements, it is not clean, do some research. Watch the video Gaslands.

We are fighting this, with peaceful opposition at meetings with the companies, through letter writing campaigns, with voting for politicians who are against these practices. We need help. Yesterday, the Keystone Pipeline was narrowly defeated, but will resurface as soon as the new congress is in office. Also yesterday, it was announced that fracking was going to be allowed in the George Washington National Forest. This is where parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Skyline Drive are located.

To frack or build a pipeline, acres of forest will be destroyed, herbicides will be sprayed to keep the undergrowth controlled, herbicides that will affect the health of the fauna and the human populations near the areas and anyone who receives their water from the groundwater or the watersheds that these areas serve.

What can you do? If you live in any of the counties affected by any fracking or pipelines, join the organized fight against them, attend the meetings, stand up and be heard. If you don’t live near them, but want to continue to enjoy our natural resources, write your politicians and be heard. It is going to take a national community to stop this desecration of our country by these practices and to stop our natural resources from being shipped overseas. For the funds being spent on these projects to go toward true clean energy that doesn’t destroy the environment.

If you are local, we need an auditorium full of people at Giles County High School, November 20, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. to peacefully show opposition by our numbers and our signs. Questions of the pipeline companies will be allowed by filling out a 3 X 5″ card with your question.

If you want to see more about fracking and pipelines, look on Wiki or check out http://www.preservethenrv.com.

Please help. This is our dream retirement home, built with our lifesavings and we don’t want to see it despoiled or destroyed, nor do we want any environment poisoned or destroyed.

November 19, 2014
SAY NO TO THE PIPELINE

Last night Mountaingdad and I attended the county Board of Supervisors meeting in opposition to the proposed “natural” gas pipeline. We were heartened that the gallery was full to overflowing with residents of our county, the adjacent county, and the county that successfully blocked it. There were more than 100 people in attendance and 16 spoke, including Mountaingdad. Though this wasn’t a hearing on the topic, I feel the Board was given some good information, not just the sales propaganda from the Mountain Valley Pipeline people. We were also heartened to learn that we don’t have to try to start the resistance moving in our community, that there is already a group made up of folks from 4 counties and we just need to jump on the band wagon.

The statistics and data that we heard are frightening, regarding the dangers of even a smaller 30-32″ pipeline and they are talking about an experimental 42″ pipeline. The map showing the proposed route and the question and answer sheet that was provided from the presentation they made to the county representative several days ago, shows that they are not going to directly use the power line easement, but rather take land near it by eminent domain and depending on which side of the easement they choose, they could be on our land or very near our farm and perhaps will take our land for the road access as they come in to destroy a 125 foot wide swathe of forest and dig a 10′ deep trench through the rock and karst topography and along a fault line of our county. Needless to say we are alarmed. Construction blasting and digging or a pipeline accident with a pipeline of that size could wipe out from our home past the only major road through the county, virtually isolating some of the county residents. This in a large mostly rural county with only 4 small volunteer fire and rescue companies. The route crosses the New River and two major creeks feeding the New River numerous time, threatening over 250 historical sites including 2 of the 3 covered bridges. The estimated property impact is in the billions of dollars. This is for a pipeline to carry gas recovered through fracking (a groundwater destroyer) and they won’t guarantee that the gas won’t be shipped overseas instead of for domestic use. The estimated lifetime of this pipeline is only 20 years.

The Cascades

Bridge built in 1912 and designated as a Historical Landmark.

Built in 1916, designated as a Historical landmark.

Historical farmhouse

Historical farmhouse

The two bridges and the two houses are all within the probably easement as are many other historical sites.

There have been over 360 incidents resulting in at least $40,000 damage to property per incident (the figure that is put on declaring it an incident) in the US alone including one that killed 8 people and destroyed an entire neighborhood in California just within the past few years from fracking or the transmission of the gas recovered by this process.

This pipeline won’t even be giving jobs to our region as the installation of such a pipeline requires specially trained workers that are brought in with their own temporary housing during the construction.

Our county has been striving to present itself as a recreation, vacation and wilderness area with over 45 miles of the New River for kayaking, canoeing, tubing and fishing; the wonderous Cascade Waterfalls, Mountain Lake and Lodge, and more than 50 miles of the Appalachian Trail including one of the trail towns. The forest destruction will definitely impact the desirability of this area as a vacation spot or wilderness retreat.

If you are one of my local readers, please join the cause against this pipeline and share this information with friends and neighbors. We need all of the support that we can get. More info is available at Preserve the NRV on Facebook.

October 17, 2014
Issues and finishes

About a week ago, we learned that a proposed natural gas pipeline route had been relocated to cross our county. As best we can tell, just below our property following the easement that the power company has for heavy load transmission lines, does that make sense, to run a gas line under electrical lines? This gas will be coming from fracking in West Virginia and transported across our county and several adjacent counties to one south and east of us. This is clearly not something that we support and hope that at tonight’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting, there will be strong and vocal opposition. In addition to the 40+” buried pipeline, there will be several pumping stations, the locations of which have not been decided or at least not revealed. One of the counties that was on the original route were so adamantly opposed and raised valid enough opposition that the route was reconsidered. The two counties that it is slated to pass through after our county have mounted opposition groups.

On my trip home on Tuesday, I passed through a county that is on a different proposed pipeline route and every property has opposition signs along the roadway and about 1/3 of the properties were for sale before property values plummet if the pipeline goes through their county.

We fear for our property value, but also for our groundwater and physical safety if the line does indeed go beneath the electrical lines. Our county sits on limestone and is riddled with caves and sinkholes. It is subject to rare, but recorded earthquakes. If there were a breach in the pipeline due to a sinkhole or other disaster, it could ruin the groundwater on which this county relies as most residents get their water from springs or wells.

To add to this threat, we experienced another torrential rain two nights ago that made our state maintained gravel road look like it had been clawed out by a giant cat with gullies up to a foot deep traversing across it back and forth. Mountaingdad has spoken with a VDOT representative on the road about the issue that the road swale tips in one direction then the other with no rain bars or culverts to direct the flow. It tips toward our driveway about 20 feet up the hill and our culvert fills with gravel and mud from the road several times a year. We have hand dug it out, had VDOT dig it out and now we are getting gravel building up on the downhill side of the culvert in our yard. VDOT says they can’t do anything but regrade it with the same swale and won’t seem to consider adding culverts to direct the flow. This is another battle we will have to again fight.

I did finish the never ending Socks On A Plane today. They have been on the needles for at least a year.

They have a lovely little cable down the outside edge of each foot that the yarn totally swallowed. And to add insult to injury, they are too small for my foot, so I am going to have to find a new owner for them whose foot is smaller than an 8.

Last night at Knit Night, I ripped out the entire sleeve on the sweater I have been knitting as the armhole was so ginormous that I could put 4 of my upper arms in each one. I have started them again following a decrease patter that has brought the sleeve size down to one that is still large, but might actually fit inside my winter coats. My sweater knitting has not been very good for the last year. One I made for me was too small and found a new owner in a knitter friend. This one is too large, but I don’t want to rip it all out, so if I can make the sleeves work, I will just wear it.

October 16, 2014