Cabot Gas has been found responsible for yet another contaminated area in Susquehanna County, Pa. The investigation by DEP has found Cabot responsible for gas migration and metals migrating into water wells near the Stalter gas site in Lenox, Pa.

The four homes have their water wells disconnected and water replacement’s daily given by Parrish in South Montrose, Pa., which is the water replacement company used by some of the gas companies in our county for the past four years.

Water replacement consists of trucking water in a stainless steel, 1,000 gallon tanker carrying Montrose clorine-treated water from Montrose Lake to homes contaminated.

Some have been receiving replacement water since 9/2011. The DEP investigation found high levels of methane in their water, anywhere from 17 mg/L to 57 mg/L and also found high ethane, manganese, iron and aluminum.

The homes have been equipped with methane-release stacks over their water well heads and received plastic, water buffaloes to hold the replacement water .

Cabot is paying for the replacement water and equipment.

The owners have to pay for the heating of these water buffaloes during the cold months, which can be substantial.

The homes in Franklin Twp., Franklin Forks, on route 29 are still receiving water replacement for their homes and have methane-release vent stacks over their water wells and DEP is still investigating the cause of this, for about a year now! The contamination in Franklin Forks is between two gas wells included in the DEP investigation. These two gas sites, Hollenbeck and Depue have violations of defective casings and spills.

How much of our water and air is to be polluted and contaminated so the gas companies can extract all our gas and pay royalties to the residents? Is it worth contaminating our environment and impacting our health for this fuel that is touted as supposedly, clean?

See our Citizens for Clean Water website at www.nepagasaction.org. My email is veraduerga@yahoo.com.

Come forward and be a growing voice to tell the world that gas drilling is harming us.

Sincerely,

Vera Scroggins

Brackney, Pa.

In our area I have been seeing a lot of out of state vehicle licenses. Pa gas has drawn people to our region, looking for work, from all over the US. Some of the states represented are: AL, AZ, AR, CO, FL, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, SC, TN, TX, UT, WV, & WY. I apologize if I missed any states whose residents have found work in the PA gas fields.

I know of some men and women from our area who have found good paying jobs in the industry, but of all the jobs Gov. Corbett says have been created, what percentage of those jobs are filled by area residents? It appears to me that this PA resource is reducing the unemployment rates in many other states; while our unemployment rate is 8+%.

Sincerely,

Walton Dahlander

Great Bend, PA

Dear Mr. Leo Davidovich:

Concerning your letter published in the December 5 edition of the Transcript. I fully agree with you that the Elk Lake School Board members are unduly concerned with the pipeline to the Waldenberger well site and its connection to the safety of the district's schoolchildren.

And I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a few tree huggers in their ranks. America didn't get to be the economy giant that she is by worrying about children or trees; we have plenty of both.

And I sympathize with you and others who are “negatively affected by [the school board's] . . . lack of actions” preventing its construction.

By “negatively affected” I assume you mean that the school board is standing in the way of you and others gaining financially. That's indeed too bad. Especially so since as you wrote, “I am all in favor of protecting our children.” Good. And doubtless that is Williams' No. 1 priority, also.

Who would be so cynical as to suppose that financial interests would influence safety concerns?

I'm sure that if all of you could just meet and talk, this issue would be resolved. Williams, as you wrote, is “more than willing to address [safety] concerns.” That is most assuring.

The truth is that natural gas pipelines are safe. But to be open about it, there is a minimal risk. There have been accidents, in fact scores and scores of them.

An abbreviated list of states where pipeline explosions have occurred can be tedious: Minnesota, Virginia, California, Louisiana, Michigan, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Montana, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania; all of which have experienced multiple incidents.

Fortunately, these occurrences are not common. Gas companies do their best to avoid them; it is in their interest to do so. But accidents, by definition, are unexpected, unintended, and despite a company's best efforts, they are unavoidable.

Last year there were five natural gas pipeline accidents in the lower 48, two of them in our state. They caused six fatalities, destroyed 15 homes, and necessitated mass evacuations, one lasted for more than a week.

Just last September there was a pipeline explosion in Mexico that killed 26 and injured 46. Natural gas detonates with terrific force. One pipeline explosion in Mexico left a trench that was 40 feet long, 10 wide, and 6 feet deep.

Perhaps a petition of concerned citizens would be helpful in moving the school board to action, “immediate action” as you wrote. They should accept the fact that progress does not come without some risk.

Elk Lake School Board quit dilly-dallying and let's start the digging. It's time to begin positively affecting those who stand to gain financially and stop this tiresome fretting about possible consequences.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA