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

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Permalink Reply by Jim Walters on June 6, 2011 at 12:10am

Homer . . . . I don't consider what I said political at all, I am a member of no party save the "watch your butt brigade" 

 

You have taught me a lot . . . . thank you . .. . ..

Permalink Reply by Jim Walters on June 6, 2011 at 12:29am

Mark, I am certain that you know far more than I do when it comes to all this. . . and you seem to be a guy I would listen to carefully if we were to meet and greet. 

 

What got my dander up . . . exemption from the clean water act. . . . and the Chinese inclusion.

 

It's obvious the gas is going to the highest bidder so my take is that since this is true . . . drop the patriotic mumbo jumbo, see it as business and fight tooth and nail for yourselves. . . . . I say yourselves because I would not sign for any price (but I don't expect ANYBODY to see things my way on that issue) Good luck

Permalink Reply by Mike Knapp on June 6, 2011 at 12:42am

Jim,

 

No one here is under the guise that gas companies are anything less than any other company.  Like any other companies, they are motivated by profit.  They are not you best friend, nor should they be.  They are a BUSINESS PARTNER and should be (and usually are) treated that way.  I'm not going to say that there are and haven't been some unscrupulous people out there doing some underhanded things, but you can't throw the entire industry under the bus because of that.  There are a few that go above and beyond, a few that aren't so great, and a whole bunch in the middle, just like anything else. It's also extremely unfair to try to group the entire oil & gas industry in with Wall Street.   What a horrible comparison to make.  The oil & gas industry is made up of millions of people...average Joe's and Jane's, not like the few thousand "elite" bankers.   We create an actual product that is arguable the most vital resource the world has ever seen. Literally and figurative the "lubrication" of society.  

 

I agree with you completely about your concerns about Wall Street and the military industrial complex, but your frustrations with those cannot rationally be transferred onto the oil and gas industry.

 

Permalink Reply by Jim Walters on June 6, 2011 at 12:43am

Paul . . . I hear what you are saying, but you have no idea how much power can fostered up by a grass roots uprising of pissed off common folks. . . . . you can't only just buck City Hall you can knock it off it's foundation if you choose.

 

Look at who stopped the Vietnam War . . . and what the Tea Party has already accomplished . . . shine a light on the big boys and they scury for a rock to hide under . . . .

 

never underestimate the power of the people, that's all I'm saying. . . . and when this thread dries up and blows away so shall I . . . :-) 

Permalink Reply by Mike Knapp on June 6, 2011 at 12:31am

Jim,

 

There are plenty of people who are AGAINST slick water fracking.  That's why we're a little touchy. As far as negotiating, there are few BAD deals that are being inked in the Marcellus.  That $100 per acre would have been considered a huge number 5 years ago, when the leasing rate was $5 per acre.  It's not until landowners find out that someone down the road got more than them that they feel "ripped off".   Some areas are better than others.  As such, rates fluctuate.

 

It's true that landowners possess the gas rights, but most don't possess the $40 million dollars or so that it takes to remove it all.  Were it not for the gas companies, the technology to extract the gas wouldn't even exist.  

 

If you think that folks receiving millions of dollars in bonus payments, royalty money, excellent employment opportunities, huge new tax revenues, brand new roads, cleaner air to breathe, a transportation fuel that is about a $1.40 per gallon right now, the cheapest fuel in the nation to heat your home and water, etc.  is "slamming your backside", I'd hate to hear how you feel about the IRS.  There are going to be some annoyances like truck traffic, but that is the cost we must pay to have our cell phones, computers, microwaves, warm water, warm homes, etc.  Carnegie/Mellon/Frick make Aubrey McClendon look like Rachel Carson.  We're actually arguing over whether or not the temporary cracking of the sides of some township roads is a burden worth bearing to tap the ocean of clean, cheap energy beneath us.   It's pure insanity.

 

Permalink Reply by Jim Walters on June 6, 2011 at 12:59am

and that . . . is the rest of the story . . . :-)

 

The IRS has always treated me fairly well, but I have an ex business partner who absolutely despises them . . .

you see a lot of this stuff is in the eyes of the beholder and his/her perception.

and personal experience . . . I once commercial fished in the waters of prince William Sound . . . till the Exxon Valdez fiasco. Since I have had a highly tainted view of the oil/gas industry . . . then the gulf thing . . . and all the rest. . . . 

 

If past action is any sign of future action then what is this area going to end up looking like is anybodies guess . . . and yours is as good as mine.

 

Back in the late sixties, one of the first jobs I got after military service in Asia was with the East Ohio Gas Company. GREAT company, filled with local friend and neighbors etc. . . . . I understand what/who makes up these companies......... gold rises to the top, but then so does scum . . . 

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Elsie Gibbs on June 6, 2011 at 1:16am

With the millions of tankers and wells drilled there have only been a few major situations. We hear more about 50+ car pile-ups then major spills.

 

What would be nice (yes nice) would be some honesty from both sides with-out all the secrecy. Give the people some advance warning on when and where the drilling will happen. It does not take long to have someone stop and talk to those impacted.

 

Test the water wells and springs. All we asked was to have an adult at the house there when they tested (they never did the test). Guess our asking for this courtesy was taken as a no to the pre-test.

 

Don't speed on the roads we have blind-corners and young children.

 

The above can build trust with those directly impacted. Knowledge of what is happening lessens fear and anger.
Permalink Reply by Jim Walters on June 6, 2011 at 4:48am

absolutely . . . a little bit of respect goes a long way. 

 

Time and money should NOT be a companies highest priority . . . the welfare of the people involved SHOULD be.

I followed that simple rule during my home building days and in thirty plus years practically all my clients became friends. . . .

today it's all about time and money . . .  

Forget the money aspect of all this, what would it hurt to DEMAND from the companies these kind of considerations before signing?

Permalink Reply by craig on June 6, 2011 at 12:37pm

Changed my mind, nothing worth posting to here. 

Permalink Reply by Kathleen Elsie Gibbs on June 3, 2011 at 10:36am

I am not the biggest fan of what is going on. But I won't blame the bad roads on the drillers and their trucks. Before the drillers came here we had to replace struts yearly and never could keep an alignment on any of our vehicles. We now have a fully paved road and no bumps. Still one and a held lane wide LOL. Must say it is nice to drive on and yes even ride our bikes. Now if only the drillers would use the two dirt roads that our road leads to then we might have all paved roads for the first time ever.

Permalink Reply by Mike Knapp on June 3, 2011 at 11:02am

http://www.wetmtv.com/news/local/story/Chesapeake-Announces-Road-Pr...

Chesapeake Energy, just one company, is close to $150 million by themselves. 

 

Range Resources has put over $20 million into roads just in Washington County. 

http://weirtondailytimes.com/page/content.detail/id/562200/Range-Re...

 

ANXIOUSLY AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Duffield on June 3, 2011 at 12:37pm
i'm rideing my bike,lol.

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