Photo credit: Leann Leiter
TOUR OF SWPA FRACKING IMPACTS
2020 TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
The Better Path Coalition is currently scheduling tours with the team in SWPA led by Lois Bjornson. The dates listed below are available dates. No tour will take place unless a reservation is made for that date. Please tell your legislators and Governor Wolf you want them to take the tour. (Check the list below to see if your legislators have yet to take the tour.) Be sure to tell them they must contact us at betterpathpa@gmail.com to reserve the date.
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The available dates through June are:
January 31
February 7, 13, 21, 28
March 6, 13, 20, 27
April 1, 2, 3
May 1, 29
June 5, 12, 19
You can’t unsee them.
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Witnessing shale gas development’s impacts is an unforgettable experience, yet one too few of the people who make laws and set policy have had.
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This summer, the Better Path Coalition decided to change that.
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We began organizing tours of fracking’s impacts in southwestern PA for elected officials. We felt it was important to concentrate our efforts on that part of the state for a few reasons. It’s the part of the state where fracking began 15 years ago. It’s now ground zero of a second-generation fracking boom, this time centered on ethane used by the petrochemical industry to make plastics, including the single-use variety. And it’s the part of the state that has seen a spike in diagnoses of rare childhood cancers in the past decade, according to investigative reporting by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Don Hopey and David Templeton who found at least 67 cases in just 4 rural counties. Thirteen young people have died.
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In part, the tour was inspired by this excerpt from an article in the Observer-Reporter in Washington County.
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“Kasey Duran recalled how officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection who recently visited her home in Smith Township were astonished at the amount of shale gas infrastructure their own agency had approved for companies to build nearby.
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“’They were standing around totally blank-faced, (they) couldn’t believe that they approved so many things,’ she said.
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“’They don’t know, either, what they’re really approving, besides what they can see on a map,” she added. “But seeing it up close is something totally different.’”
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That’s right. Your environmental regulators hadn’t witnessed firsthand the consequences of their actions. Surely our state legislators hadn’t either, we thought (correctly, as it turns out). And we know no sitting Pennsylvania governor has ever toured impacted areas.
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Fortunately, we were able to connect with several speakers who have led tours for journalists and others. Among them are Lois Bjornson, Dr. Ned Ketyer, Leann Leiter, and Matthew Mehalik. Laurie Barr joined the team to educate participants on the massive legacy issue of orphaned and abandoned wells. The indefatigable Craig Stevens is in constant contact with legislators’ offices to get them signed up. Karen Feridun follows up with emailed invitations and confirmations.
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During the course of the tour, elected officials meet people like Janice Blanock whose son Luke died of Ewing Sarcoma at the age of 19, meet residents who are experiencing other health impacts or problems with polluted water and air, see what shale gas operations look like when viewed through a FLIR, or Forward-Looking Infrared, camera, and much more.
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We are taking reservations for tours on October 3, 10, 17 and are about to announce two new dates, November 21 and December 5. We’ve already heard from legislators interested in taking the tour in 2020, so we’ll add dates as soon as the session days are posted and we know when legislators are free.
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HAVE YOUR LEGISLATORS TAKEN THE TOUR?
NOT IF THEIR NAMES ARE BELOW.
TELL THEM YOU WANT THEM TO WITNESS FRACKING IMPACTS FIRSTHAND!
* means a staff member has taken the tour
** means they are scheduled to take an upcoming tour
Senator Name
Argall, David G
Aument, Ryan P
Baker, Lisa
Bartolotta, Camera
Blake, John P
Boscola, Lisa M
Bradford, Matthew
Brewster, James R
Brooks, Michele
Browne, Patrick M
Collett, Maria
Corman, Jake
Costa, Jay *
Dinniman, Andrew E *
Disanto, John
Farnese Jr, Lawrence M
Fontana, Wayne D
Gordner, John R
Haywood, Art
Hughes, Vincent J
Hutchinson, Scott E
Killion, Thomas H
Langerholc Jr, Wayne
Laughlin, Daniel
Martin, Scott
Mastriano, Doug
Mensch, Bob
Phillips-Hill, Kristin
Regan, Mike
Sabatina Jr, John P
Santarsiero, Steven J.
Scarnati III, Joseph B
Scavello, Mario M
Stefano, Patrick J
Street, Sharif
Tartaglione, Christine M
Tomlinson, Robert M
Vogel Jr, Elder A
Ward, Judy
Ward, Kim L
Williams, Anthony H
Yaw, Gene
Yudichak, John T
Representative Name
Barrar, Stephen
Benninghoff, Kerry A
Bernstine, Aaron
Bizzarro, Ryan A
Boback, Karen
Borowicz, Stephanie
Boyle, Kevin J
Bradford, Matthew D
Briggs, Tim
Brooks, Bob
Brown, Rosemary M
Bullock, Donna
Burgos, Danilo
Burns, Frank
Caltagirone, Thomas R
Carroll, Mike
Causer, Martin T
Cephas, Morgan
Ciresi, Joe
Comitta, Carolyn
Conklin, Scott
Cook, Bud
Cox, Jim
Cruz, Angel
Culver, Lynda Schlegel
Cutler, Bryan
Daley, Mary Jo
Davidson, Margo L
Davis, Austin A
Davis, Tina M
Dawkins, Jason
Day, Gary
Deasy, Daniel J
DeLissio, Pamela A
Delloso, Dave
Delozier, Sheryl M
DeLuca, Anthony M
Dermody, Frank
Diamond, Russ
DiGirolamo, Gene
Donatucci, Maria P
Dowling, Matthew D
Driscoll, Michael J
Dunbar, George
Dush, Cris
Ecker, Torren C
Emrick, Joe
Everett, Garth D
Farry, Frank A
Fee, Mindy
Fiedler, Elizabeth
Fitzgerald, Isabella V
Flynn, Marty
Frankel, Dan
Freeman, Robert
Friel-Otten, Danielle **
Fritz, Jonathan
Gabler, Matt
Gainey, Ed
Galloway, John T
Gaydos, Valerie S
Gillen, Mark M
Gillespie, Keith
Gleim, Barbara
Goodman, Neal P
Gregory, Jim
Greiner, Keith J
Grove, Seth M
Hahn, Marcia M
Hanbidge, Liz
Harkins, Patrick J
Harris, Jordan A
Heffley, Doyle
Helm, Susan C
Hennessey, Tim
Hershey, Johnathan D
Hickernell, David S
Hill-Evans, Carol
Hohenstein, Joseph C
Howard, Kristine
Irvin, Rich
Isaacson, Mary
James, R. Lee J
Johnson-Harrell, Movita
Jones, Mike
Jozwiak, Barry J
Kail, Joshua D
Kaufer, Aaron D
Kauffman, Rob W
Keefer, Dawn W
Keller, Fred
Keller, Mark K
Kenyatta, Malcolm
Kim, Patty
Kinsey, Stephen
Kirkland, Brian
Klunk, Kate A
Knowles, Jerry
Kortz II, William C
Kosierowski, Bridget
Krueger, Leanne
Kulik, Anita Astorino
Lawrence, John A
Lee, Summer
Lewis, Andrew
Longietti, Mark
Mackenzie, Ryan E
Madden, Maureen
Mako, Zachary
Malagari, Steven R
Maloney Sr, David M
Markosek, Brandon J.
Marshall, Jim
Masser, Kurt A
Matzie, Robert F
McCarter, Stephen
McClinton, Joanna E
McNeill, Jeanne
Mehaffie III, Thomas L
Mentzer, Steven C
Merski, Robert E
Metcalfe, Daryl D
Metzgar, Carl Walker
Mihalek, Natalie
Millard, David R
Miller, Brett R
Miller, Dan L
Mizgorski, Lori A
Moul, Dan
Mullery, Gerald J
Mullins, Kyle J
Mustello, Marci
Murt, Thomas P
Neilson, Ed
Nelson, Eric R
Nesbit, Tedd C
Oberlander, Donna
O’Mara, Jennifer
O’Neal, Timothy J
Ortitay, Jason
Owlett, Clint
Pashinski, Eddie Day
Peifer, Michael
Petrarca, Joseph A
Pickett, Tina
Polinchock, F. Todd
Puskaric, Michael J
Pyle, Jeffrey P
Quinn, Christopher B
Rader Jr, Jack
Rabb, Christopher
Rapp, Kathy L
Ravenstahl, Adam
Readshaw, Harry
Reese, Mike
Rigby, Jim
Roae, Brad
Roebuck Jr, James R
Rothman, Greg
Rowe, David
Rozzi, Mark
Ryan, Francis X
Sainato, Chris
Samuelson, Steve
Sanchez, Benjamin V
Sankey, Tommy
Sappey, Christina D
Saylor, Stan
Schemel, Paul
Schlossberg, Michael H
Schmitt, Louis C
Schroeder, Meghan
Schweyer, Peter
Shusterman, Melissa L
Simmons, Justin J
Sims, Brian
Snyder, Pam
Solomon, Jared G
Sonney, Curtis G
Staats, Craig T
Stephens, Todd
Struzzi, James B
Sturla, P. Michael
Thomas, Wendi
Tobash, Mike
Toepel, Marcy
Toohil, Tarah
Topper, Jesse
Turzai, Mike
Ullman, Wendy
Vitali, Greg
Walsh, Justin M
Warner, Ryan
Warren, Perry S
Wentling, Parke
Wheatley Jr, Jake
Wheeland, Jeff C
White, Martina A
Williams, Dan K
Youngblood, Rosita C
Zabel, Michael
Zimmerman, David H