Angel: Bedford County PA
Excerpt from “Shalefield Stories - Personal and Collected Testimonies”
Published by Steel Valley Printers
January 2014
Living in Bedford County for 16 years, our community used to be quaint and peaceful. We could sit on the porch together and hear the running water from the creek down below. All we hear now is the compressor station from the gas company and the ongoing traffic brought on by the gas extraction in our area. Now the creek is gone, and the pond might as well be gone with the contamination that now consumes it.
In 2001 and 2002, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) approached us about drilling 5 production wells around our property. They were to last 15 years. None of these production wells were going to be on our land, just surrounding us. In 2007, Spectra Energy bought these production wells and converted them into storage wells and informed us that they now owned them and would do with it as they pleased. This is when we first noticed problems. The wells were supposed to be dry. When they were converted to storage wells, that’s when the water contamination first started. The pressure from the wells and the fact the wells were not dry is what caused the contamination. Spectra Energy showed a complete disregard of the area and the people. Shortly thereafter we discovered arsenic in our water. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as well as Spectra said that the arsenic found in the water was at normal levels and that it is was naturally occurring. Some of our neighbors have higher arsenic levels than we do, but DEP still tells us that this is all naturally occurring. In another case, in 2011, I smelled gas when I was out with my family. The DEP did nothing. We called the fire chief. He tested the air and found carbon dioxide and propane. He said if it had been in a building, we would have needed to evacuate our home.
During this time we lost 5 cows, 3 dogs, 12 chickens, 4 cats, and 1 horse. When we described how the animals had died to the state veterinarians, they had told us that it sounded like arsenic poisoning. We had not informed him that high levels of arsenic had been found in our water.
Our quality of life is pretty much gone, and this is greatly related to health issues. My husband, Wayne, has problems catching his breath. The doctors still don’t know what is wrong. He was given an inhaler at first and was told he had COPD, but the inhaler did not help and a second opinion revealed that COPD was not the problem. I have red rashes on my neck. My doctor directed me to a dermatologist. After being sent to many different doctors, I saw a doctor in Pittsburgh who told me that I had some kind of bile duct liver disease. I don’t know where it came from, and the doctor’s only option now is to slow it down. The median until either death or liver transplantation is approximately 10 years.
In my opinion, we need to get rid of the DEP. They spend more time regulating us, the people, and not the oil and gas companies. We need to change the standards of eminent domain; this is what Spectra Energy used to take our land. Eminent domain is supposed to be for the public good, not for the wealth of a private company. Politicians need to realize that American citizens are paying their salaries. We are paying them to protect us. As a voter, I would rather throw my vote away than vote for people who take money from the gas and oil companies. I want to talk to the people who do not take money from the gas companies.
- Angel
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