Average beats per minute when reading out loud.
Knowing the environmental complications that would occur over the next seventeen years, I abruptly ended my conversation with neighbor Ben. No sense wasting precious time, so I bolted out the front door, followed by my Wish passengers, who previously had been huddled in the corner eavesdropping on my 2007 self and Ben.
We all rushed across the street. Passengers boarded Wish while I remained outside, ready to meet up with investigative reporter Quinn, dutifully awaiting my return. Before lift-off, I needed to explain our hasty departure, where we were going, and why we must land in 2024. Quinn and Wish listened intently as I rapidly recalled some of the events caused by the new gold rush about to occur over the next seventeen years, prompting my decision to end the environmental devastation of our beloved rivers and woodlands – at least in Beaver County.
My rushed and babbled words sounded like those garbled disclaimers one hears after a pharmaceutical company advertisement for yet another drug in their arsenal of chemical band-aids. So, for your pleasure or pain, below is the condensed version of the history I shared with Quinn and Wish. (Click the Metronome and read the below text aloud at 150 beats per minute – if you can) …
Like a bat out of hell, in 2007, the discovery of the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays in the Appalachian basin began a new gold rush. Gas/oil companies gobbled up land leases for unconventional fracking, putting private and public water sources at risk. Rural communities in PA, like Dimock Township in the Northeastern County of Susquehanna and Cecil Township in the Southwestern County of Washington were hard hit. (deep breath)
At the drop of a hat, in 2009, methane migration from natural gas wells caused a massive explosion in Dimok.
With full steam ahead, in 2010, dozens of cases of Ewing’s sarcoma and other types of cancer were identified in Washington County. But, despite an ongoing litany of adverse events caused by the gas/oil industry, including what to do with the polluted poisonous wastewater and what to do with the accumulation of a vast supply but no demand for natural gas, it was greed over need that prevailed. What could be done? (deep breath)
Picking up the pace, in 2011, Governor Tom Corbett, had the answer. Based on political opportunities and identifying a perfect site, a deal was struck with Royal Dutch Shell to build a cracker plant in Beaver County along the Ohio River. We are talking about petrochemicals, like the manufacture of plastic, not food, like the manufacture of snacks. (deep breath)
Throwing something together, in 2012, The deal included a 1.6 billion dollar tax credit over twenty-five years to entice the manufacturing of 3.5 billion tons of PLASTIC pellets per year.
After dragging their feet, in 2017 construction began on Shell’s cracker plant. So what took so long? It was not easy peasy when permits, infrastructure, workforce training, public relations and environmental challenges had to be addressed. Add to that the problem of transporting ethane from Washington County to the Cracker plant in Beaver County, a 97-mile-long endeavor! (deep breath)
Following a hasty retreat, in 2018 construction began on Shell’s Falcon pipeline . However, numerous environmental violations were reported during its construction Oil and Gas Watch News. Finally …
Off to a a flying start, in 2022 the Shell plant began operating. Despite an emissions allowance of 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, like adding more than 480,000 cars to the region annually, Shell exceeded this amount in its operations’ first and second months. Thus … (deep breath)
Racing against time, in 2024 Pennsylvania’s Governor, Josh Shapiro, levied punitive actions against Shell’s Falcon pipeline and the Cracker plant. This included 13 criminal counts for failing to report spills and other environmental violations during the pipeline’s construction Oil and Gas Watch News and a consent order of 10 million dollars detailing a range of violations at the plant. In addition to repeatedly breaching emissions limits for VOCs, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and “hazardous air pollutants” — otherwise known as air toxics — the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) cited many malfunctions at the plant dating back to June 2022. (deep breath)
Further, this $10 million agreement doesn’t preclude the DEP from fining Shell for future violations. Thus, it was a slap on the wrist to a multi-billion dollar industry who continues to pay to play its destructive game causing great harm to the air we breath, the water we drink, and the land in which we plant, causing physical and mental harm to human health, animal extinction, global warming, destruction of our oceans, and disruption of our ecosystems. Sooo …
Quinn and I board Wish and …
In the blink of an eye, we are UP, UP & AWAY to the year 2024.
Stay tuned to learn more …
Wow ! What research, Dylan Weiss!
You’ve opened my eyes to alot of yuck things happening in our world that I missed!
As my friends and family know, I’ve been studying these topics for over seventeen years so I didn’t need to do much research on fracking, the pipelines, or the petrochemical plants. Most of the research for this blog was about normal vs fast speech rates.
I appreciate your dedication to making an effort to make our lives better by supporting a healthy pollution free world, and encouraging others to do the same. Thank you. Dorothy
Thanks, Dorothy. I’ve been a tree hugger from the time I was a small child, and I feel that my dedication to environmental causes has been my calling.
Gail, you write beautifully, so descriptive and informative. You have
put your best effort forward and tackled a sensitive problem.
My admiration and gratitude for your courageous fight.
God bless you,
Love ❤️ Geraldine
Many thanks, Geraldine. I do so with the intent of informing and educating. Many citizens don’t have the time to unearth facts, often hidden beneath an opaque complex of politics, wordplay, and impossible promises. Glad you appreciate my efforts.