On Friday June 7th, 2013, four intrepid Chester County League of Women Voters traveled to Lewisburg, PA for the State Convention. We were Alma Forsyth, Jean Goerth, Mary Ciarocchi and I, Sarah Caspar.
Our guide was Ralph Kisberg of Responsible Drilling Alliance. He was also the guide for a group of us from Sierra Club with concerns about drilling in the Loyalsock State forest. We met Ralph at the Dunkin Donuts in Williamsport. From there he led a caravan of cars driven by other League members. The tour included sites in the process of development as well as some already functioning and a compressor site. The farmer who owned the property on which hydraulic fracking was taking place gave us a tour of the well site. In addition to the wells being drilled, there were large tanks, maybe half a million gallons, which contained the fracking fluids. Later they might contain the flow back which would be treated for reuse.
The owner was happy as a clam with the driller (Anadarko) which has several drilling sites in the area and wishes to drill in the Clarence Moore Lands of the Loyalsock State Forest. Prior to this windfall, he had been a school custodian making $18.00/hour. Now he is paying a large income tax thanks to Anadarko. Anadarko appears to be taking proper safety precautions. But those who went to the actual drilling site found the fumes from the drilling caused difficulties in breathing.
From the tour, we headed to Lewisburg to register at the motel, change and head over to the reception, hosted by the Lewisburg LWV at the Packwood House. The Packwood House is a lovely museum in Lewisburg. The reception was held in the garden and was delightful. A great chance to meet other League members and enjoy delicious hors d’oevres in a lovely setting. The rain we had encountered on the way up had stopped and provided us with a beautiful evening.
The entire weekend was a success. Comfortable accommodations, very good workshops and well run plenary sessions and caucuses.
If I were wearing a hat I would take it off to the Lewisburg LWV who was a marvelous host in a lovely town.
WHAT IS SEPR AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
- LWVSEPR is the interleague organization consisting of all the local Leagues in the 5-county Southeastern PA Region including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery Counties and Philadelphia.
- Through SEPR these Leagues speak and act with one voice on regional issues including transportation, infrastructure and regional cooperation.
- SEPR gives a wider scope to local concerns and a regional scope to national and state issues.
Sarah Caspar, President of Southeastern PA Region LWV
scaspar@comcast.net 610-873-1237