Road damage in Greene County

I was driving with a friend on route 221 through Greene County on Sunday to go bicycling on the Greene River trail near Rices Landing, and we found ourselves behind a brine water / residual waste truck -- presumably full of frack waste -- between Dunn Station and Ruff Creek.

Three problems:

1. The truck had no license plate!  The side of the truck said Curry Supply.

2. The truck often took up most of the road, creating a hazard for oncoming traffic.

3. There was severe road damage on route 221, perhaps from these wide, heavy frack trucks.  When I biked this road about two years ago, the edges of this road were not crumbling like this.  Damaged roads can cause a) crashes for bicyclists or motorcyclists, b) damage to car tires and suspensions, and c) additional safety problems as cars & trucks swerve to avoid holes in the road.

See photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/pheckbert/FrackingGreeneCounty#

I'd like to visit Greene County again to go bicycling on its (formerly) nice roads but these safety issues make me think twice.  The gas industry should pay for their share of this road damage, since this appears to be so far beyond normal road wear.

 

-Paul

Pittsburgh

Tags: fracking, greene county, roads, trucks

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Permalink Reply by jim mills on June 14, 2011 at 6:54pm
Karen Brown said it right on spot she is a patriot! ask yourself "all the people who doubt normal hard working everyday americans" does anybody want to destroy this land we all love and cherish? the answer is absolutely not!!! things happen and they will always happen and thats why we call it learning from our mistakes.Just like it was when we were kids growing up, how did we become so nasty to one another?
Permalink Reply by karen brown on June 15, 2011 at 9:04am
Most of the people Jim that are negative on issues such as the gas industry moving in are a certain type of people.  People who do not like change, people who are solely negative, people who do not look into educating themselves on issues and looking at the pros and cons, people who don't try and find a balance, they need to educate themselves from different sources, environmental extremists.  I know personally a person who falls into the last bracket, and if you do ask them questions on how they live.  This person is anti gas, anti development does not work and married to money and lots of it.  Now this is their life.  You will laugh but it is all true.  Story:  They live in a new home with a 10 acre pond in the front yard and guess what their septic is very close to the pond???  They both have new cars but they kept their old one that leaks oil on their driveway, it leaks so bad that they have to check the oil everytime they drive it and their driveway slopes right down to their pond.  This pond feeds a large body of water that is public.  The vehicle smokes like a bug screen so know they are poluting water which is clean and the air.  Now lets get into power.  they complain that their light bill is too high so they walk around in the dark but they have 4 computers on standby all the time, 2 old TV sets are on all the time day and night, they have 30 year old washer and dryer which they do not hang out laundry and they wash 1 sheet at a time to ensure they get clean and they sleep seperately so they wash 2 beds weekly.  Now do the math.  it takes 5 loads of laundry to just wash 2 beds and that does not include their clothes  an old washer uses 40 gallons of water per load and think of all the detergents going into the ground.  They have tons of automatic outside lighting which comes on every night and goes off around 5 am.  They have small waterheaters under each sink for they do not want to wait for hot water.    They have a manicured lawn and landscaping which they firtilize often.  They drive all around for hours taking pictures of gas industry functions and travel out of state as well as to our capital in Pa attending antigas meetings.  Think of the fuel they are burning.  They just moved into their new house 9 year ago but do not want anymore homes built in their neighborhood which is rural.    They do not recycle or burn their burnables but send everything to a landfill.  They buy bottled water in plastic bottles instead of drinking from the tap which they have good water.    They do not believe in select timbering but complain that there is no forage on their property for the deer to eat.  The list goes on and on and this person is an environmental nut but does not look into their own back yard it is sad thAT THEY CANNOT SEE CLEARLY THE WHOLE PICTURE.  Their business reaps from the gas industry and they are not afraid to take the gas industrys money that they do not have trouble spending.    This is a sad story and I feel very sorry for these types of people and you can talk til you are blue in the face and you will not change their minds.  We all must have open minds in all aspects of life and at times we must temporiarly sacrifice a bit to prosper I have said my piece.
Permalink Reply by Tom Brian on June 15, 2011 at 10:51am

Karen

And don't we all know people like that , and there is no known cure, its like an addiction.  call yours confused tree huggers?

well written  

Tom 

Permalink Reply by Mike Knapp on June 15, 2011 at 1:54pm

Great post Karen.  The hypocrisy of many of the "antis"  is overwhelming.  I attended a symposium in downtown Pittsburgh earlier this year and got to talking with some of the MarcellusProtest.org ladies.   Most of their points were false, and when questioned about anything that strayed from their rehearsed talking points they looked like deer in headlights.  But still, they were nice enough and very respectful.   The thing that got me though was after polishing off a rant on Marcellus drilling and how it pollutes the air, they all pulled some Marlboro's out of their purses and lit up a cigarette! 

 

I think I still have a scar on my lip from biting it so hard trying not to laugh/cry/jump up and down in utter disbelief/frustration.

Permalink Reply by Daniel Rupert on June 15, 2011 at 2:25pm
Yes...they smoke cigs and drive diesel powered vehicles. I left a similiar meeting in Murrysville...same thing...everyone smoking in the lot...then jumping into their diesel powered cars and trucks. Then home, to cook their food, dry their clothes and heat their homes (wintertime) with natural gas. You just have to laugh...too funny!!!
Permalink Reply by jb379 on June 15, 2011 at 8:12am

Nice post Karen....kudos to you.

 

JB

Permalink Reply by mark ayers on June 15, 2011 at 5:23pm
A man who lives hereby (moved here about 10 years ago) walked up to me one night at the bar and said "I'm going to sue you and all of my neighbors if you guys pollute my well". I bit my tongue and asked "how many acres do you have?" He said two but his neighbor had told him he does not own the mineral rights. I replied "What does your deed say" he said "I haven't looked at it in a while, I have to see if I can find it".  So the next time I saw him he said "I have something for you to look at". He went to his truck and brought back his deed. On the deed it clearly stated that the coal was reserved by the previous owner. I told him I thought he owned the oil and gas rights as far as I knew and that was good at least he had control of his property. Then (well you guessed it) he asked if they where still leasing in our area......
Permalink Reply by Brad Arnold on June 16, 2011 at 1:13pm
Good point. Jealousy is a powerful and destructive motivator in some people.
Permalink Reply by Oil and Gas nightmare on June 19, 2011 at 12:25am
 I actually think that they have to pay to fix it, like its a given but there is not point(if you will) until they are through tearing it up haha..but you know what I mean...why fix what you are going to rebreak because you have to and then rebreak it agian, just finish and then fix is the motto I think :)
Permalink Reply by Mike Knapp on June 21, 2011 at 4:25pm

Here's an article from today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Shale Gas Drillers Spend $411 MILLION DOLLARS Repairing Local Roads" http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_7431...

 

 

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on June 21, 2011 at 4:35pm
So how much are the bicycle organizations putting toward road repair?
I think the main thing to remember is that when big companies are able to earn big profits, they tend to be more willing to spend them generously.

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