Who's Lying?: More Smoke, More Mirrors

Just when you thought it was safe to actually think everything was settled, when our Mayor Davidson said it was over, that the silos would NOT be located in Upshur County and that the jobs would remain in Upshur County, there emerges a front page article in the Sept. 27 edition of the Clarksburg-Telegram...

So what is the real story?

Let's keep in mind what was said in the city council meeting of Sept. 19, 2008. Here is a recording of Mayor Davidson's declaration, comments by citizens in attendance, and other council members' support of Davidson's statement in its entirety:

According to the Sept. 27 Telegram article, Rick Smith, the man who has been the central figure in all of the deals associated with "the project," the man who has represented his company, Weatherford International in all the dealings with the City of Buckhannon, the Upshur County Development Authority and the County Commission, said:

... the option to place the sand silos in northern Buckhannon is still open and it was never closed.

"Our first choice is still northern Buckhannon."

However, in the Sept. 19 council meeting, Davidson says the following:

"I talked with Rick Smith yesterday morning. Rick Smith is the regional manger for Weatherford. He confirmed what I have been trying to tell you for the past several meetings now. Weatherford is diligently seeking a location for their sand silos outside the county...he asked me to tell you that Weatherford desires to be a good neighbor. Tha they will be a good neighbor. They are going to locate their facilities in Upshur County. The sand silos he has plans to put outside of Upshur County...I'm confident that that's going to come to fruition."

Comments made by the other members on the council confirms the decision. Councilman Thomas says that 85-90-some percent of the employees will be working from Upshur County.

And I (Pete Galarneau) clarified: "So we have employment and we have sand silos outside of North Buckhannon."

And Mayor Davidson replied, "Exactly. Win-win. It's what everybody wanted."

Skeeter Queen reminded us that the council had rescinded the city's grant to a right of way across the paper street known as Harrison Avenue (which Rick Smith needed to allow for railroad access) and that this decision has always been maintained.

So now Rick Smith has been emboldened to say that if Weatherford can't find a suitable space or the right property, then the silos will be placed in Buckhannon, according to the the Telegram article.

But this right has been rescinded.

What is the deal?

It's What We've Been Saying All Along

Decision Announced at Buckhannon City Council, September 18, 2008

There are so many things I could say right now, but I think that, through this blog, through the voices of the residents of North Buckhannon, and through some very important officials who have never, once, diverted from their support of us, all of the arguments have been made.

Tonight the Council announced that Weatherford International's main office, the one that was always supposed to be located on the "CJ Martin" hill will be built, employing 85% of the 200 Weatherford jobs promised when all of this started at the beginning of May.

AND THE SILICA SILOS WILL NOT BE IN NORTH BUCKHANNON!

Though the location of the silos was not revealed in the meeting, Mayor Davidson said that they would not be in North Buckhannon.

The resolution is what our Coalition has always said was the best resolution. The resolution guarantees the jobs as our Coalition always said it would. Innocent lives are not put at stake just like the Coalition always said was possible.

But it took a group of citizens who stood up and enacted the freedoms granted by our great country. We did not sit on our hands like so much of America does. We worked hard, dug in, wrote letters, talked to congressmen, lobbied and lobbied and lobbied. Civic duty is not easy that is why so few Americans engage. For so many Americans the answer always is "Well you can't fight City Hall." But our Coalition has shown that this just isn't true.

If you feel danger you react. As a person. As a community. The residents of N. Buckhannon reacted.

And the resolution was the best for everyone.

I am proud and overjoyed for my family and for my new family: my neighbors. But I remain cautious. If such an event as this could happen once, it can happen again...in North, West, South, or East Buckhannon. If an event such as this can lead to the hated comments that pit neighbor against neighbor while corporate interest stands on the sideline eating popcorn with a smile, then each of us has the responsibility to pay attention. Watch out for those who would use a system that is lean on checks and balances and heavy on diversion and invisibility. They could take your freedom, your choice, your life.

If it happened to us, it can happen to you.

God bless those who did the right thing.

-Pete Galarneau

Weatherford is Already Here

Just to reiterate since it appears that some still are not getting it...

• Weatherford is here
• Their business is beside Shop n' Save
• They are hiring employees
• They are working in Upshur County
• They are adding to our economy
• There are no silica silos in North Buckhannon
• Everyone is happy

We Are "Only" People

Come walk with us... the residents that live here in North Buckhannon. Let us take you to the peoples’ homes and let you see that we are not unreasonable - that we are just like you in every way. We want good jobs for our family and friends. We want quality of life for ourselves and our neighbors. We want our homes and investments to be secure.

Please let us take you where Weatherford wants to place the silos and show you how close they could be to your neighbors’ homes.

Let us introduce you to our Head Start School and to our children whose laughter you can hear throughout the neighborhood.

Please walk through our park and watch the soccer kids play games that enhance their own team-building skills.

Please come meet our beautiful 92-year-old lady who has lived here all of her life and wants to share her experiences with those who have a kind ear.

Come meet our 90-year-old veteran who has survived a surgery that surgeons would not have even attempted on someone his age if it were not for his 60-year-old mind and body.

Come visit with the lovely nearly-blind lady who just had her bedroom painted a beautiful bird-egg blue that we hope she can enjoy.

Come meet the woman who built her house in 1947 with her husband, raised three children, and have all her family in for every holiday where they meet and remember.

We are the people of Buckhannon...

We are the people.

Having Power Over Others

As an avid reader of BusinessWeek I found the following article timely and relevant (and a bit sarcastic):

Are You Being A Jerk? Again?

In the article, the following seemed appropriate for this blog:

"A second, and equally reliable, force that makes people hard to stomach is having power over others. The belief that power turns people into selfish jerks has been around a long time. This isn't just a myth. A growing body of research—notably by professors Dachner Keltner at University of California, Berkeley, Deborah Gruenfeld at Stanford, and their students—documents that three things happen when people are put in positions of power:

1. They focus more on satisfying their own needs;
2. They focus less on the needs of their underlings;
3. They act like "the rules" others are expected to follow don't apply to them.

A particularly amusing study—undertaken by Keltner, Gruenfeld, and another colleague—shows that giving people just a little more power than their colleagues causes them to eat more cookies, chew with their mouths open, and leave more crumbs. Keltner also cites research showing that power leads people to process information in shallower ways and to make decisions that are less carefully reasoned."

In Rebuttal to point #4 of the Dev Authority Letter

The Upshur County Dev. Authority Letter stated in point #4 that the residents' argument regarding real concerns for health issues "was the most disappointing argument." The Dev. Authority letter is trying to tell us in this "response" that silica based proppant (which the PR spin of the article simply labels as sand) is not hazardous, inferring that for Weatherford it would be "economic suicide for a company to install an operation that would threaten the health of its workers and neighbors." It is a FACT, that the U.S. EPA and OSHA have determined silica based products to be a carcinogenic hazard. So it is dangerous. But what point #4 wants us to understand is that Weatherford will control and contain this carcinogen and for that reason, it is not a health threat to workers or nearby residents.


Evidence tells another story. For those of you who have kept tabs using this blog, you have seen the piles of proppant left unattented in the lot currently occupied beside Shop n' Save. You have seen the video of the transfer of proppant from one truck to another in an UNcontrolled and UNcontained manner. If you were to watch the rest of this video, you would see workers atop these trucks with billowing proppant all around them and no respiratory protection. The pictures and videos presented in this blog were taken August 1 of this year.

Also, on August 1, because of complaints issued by Buckhannon residents, the Department of Environmental Protection in Charleston visited the staging area in Tennerton and found that the conditions were to be reported as "total irresponsibility." The inspector, Andy Grim (304-926-0440) said that the report is on file in Charleston and can be obtained by visiting the DEP in Charleston but that fax copies were against policy. He said that you can call for information about the report.

If the transfer of proppant between a couple of 30-ton trucks is an issue, what would it be like if caravans of 30-ton trucks visit N. Buckhannon daily to transfer proppant from four differnet 80-foot silos each holding 1.2 million pounds of proppant (not to mention the transfer of proppant from the rail cars to the silos)?

Can you reason this for yourself?

Letter to the Editor in Rebuttal to Upshur Co. Development Authority "Response"

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the August 27 edition of the Record-Delta. The text of the letter as submitted is as follows:

Dear Editor:

Forgive me if I take a moment to laugh. So, here the citizens of Buckhannon sit waiting for a response to this whole silica silo debacle since a cone of silence has been in place for the past four weeks, sitting and waiting to hear something from our city council or Weatherford to the tune of: “OK citizens. We respect you and your property and your families and your will to stick this out, so we are going to have the public meeting that we promised way back on July 9, the same public meeting that was scheduled for July 22 (because Weatherford threatened to pull everything out by August 7) and was cancelled at the last minute leaving the city attorney and Delegate Bill Hamilton standing alone outside the Church of God.” But no. The first response in four weeks doesn’t even come from the City. It comes from the Upshur County Development Authority Board of Directors. What? Huh? Forgive me if I have this wrong, but since when did our citizens start electing the Dev. Board of Directors. Oh, that’s right. We didn’t!

I also got a snicker when I read last Wednesday’s “Response” (Aug. 20) to my letter printed in the July 23 edition of the Record Delta when in it, the term “voice of reason” surfaces. This is certainly an oxymoron as there has never been anything close to reason in this whole ordeal. If you reason that people come second to industry, if you reason that the years residents labored at building family homesteads, spending money at local merchants to do so, and paying city taxes and levies to maintain their property right is insignificant to a “promise” by unknown entities that will pay nothing to the city for the existence of silos in North Buckhannon, then “reason” has evidently been purchased by the uncaring.

As a reminder, those who signed this “voice of reason” and should be held accountable for its indoctrination are as follows. It should also be revealed the members of the Board whose names are not signed to the Response. Additionally, one name appears that was not a member of the Board on August 20. And, none of the Board members live in North Buckhannon.
The signatures were:

• Connie Tenney (President of Progressive Bank)
• Mark Harper (Owner of Harper Lumber)
• Creed Pletcher (Upshur County Commissioner)
• Dennis Klingensmith (President of First Central Bank)
• Glen Hawkins (Owner of Rock Cave IGA)
• Elaine Abel (Diana Hallmark)
• Andrew Duncan (Executive for Corhart: St. Gobain)
• Rosemary Wagner Ex-Officio (Region VII Planning & Development Director)
• Dennis Xander (Board of Directors at Independent Oil & Gas Association of WV)
• Don Nestor (Partner in Toothman and Rice; Board of Directors at Independent Oil & Gas Association of WV)
• Steve Foster (Exec. Dir. Upshur County Dev. Authority)
• Dave Thomas (City Councilman)
• Terry Reed (Attorney with Hymes & Coontz)
• Bill Wellings (Airport Authority)
• Terry Ware (Owner of Sears)
• Sharon McNemar (President of Chase Bank)
• Tony Atkins (St. Joseph’s Hospital)
• Bryson VanNostrand (owner of VanNostrand Architects and architect for the Weatherford Project in N. Buckhannon)
  

One name listed is not on the Board: Tony Atkins

The following are Board members but were not signed to the Response letter to the editor:

• Dr. Pamela Balch (President of WV Wesleyan College)
• Scott Lampinen (Superintendant of Schools)
• Kenny Davidson (Mayor of Buckhannon)
• Ex-Officio members: Bill Hamilton (WV State Delegate), Randy White (WV State Senator), Nancy Shobe (City of Buckhannon Recorder,) Willie Parker (Upshur County Commission), Dee Tomblyn (President of City Chamber of Commerce).

Because there is limited space in the newspaper to fully argue the individual items “selected” from my original letter, I will make the rest of my response available at the Protest Coalition’s blog site: http://silicasilos.blogspot.com/.

First, let’s reason some things that you may not be aware of and I make these observations from the point of view that there has always been a contention that there is some connection between jobs and the location of silica silos in North Buckhannon. One necessitates the other, the argument has been. If there are no silos in North Buckhannon, Weatherford will leave. You can read it in the Board’s Response. You can hear it every time you listen to pro-Weatherford activists. And the contention is that we (North Buckhannon) are against jobs. This is the PR spin that is a part of the pro-Weatherford campaign. NOT TRUE. That connection does not exist. And all residents want good jobs for their friends and families.

Weatherford threatened to pull out “Everything” if the City did not allow the silos to be located in North Buckhannon. That ultimatum ended on August 8. Instead of pulling everything out, Weatherford has already begun working in Upshur County. Their temporary staging ground is located next to Shop n’ Save in Tennerton where you will find a sign promoting “Now hiring”. So, did you catch that? Did you reason what is going on? Did you disconnect the silo-equals-jobs argument? Weatherford is hiring and there are no silos in North Buckhannon. Jobs are being created right now without the suffering of Buckhannon residents. Further, if Weatherford is hiring in Upshur County, anyone who tells you that “they could still pull everything out [and move to Washington, Pa.]” is either continuing the misinformation campaign or is assuming that Weatherford is such an irresponsible employer that they would hire local residents only to move their operation two hours north and leave those new hires hanging.

Reason takes time and effort and a willingness to look at and question everything. I feel that a great veil of mistrust has fallen upon Upshur County and those who claim to be a “voice of reason” may be allowing personal investment to cloud their judgments.

Thank you to those of the Coalition who have sacrificed much for the well-reasoned cause.

-Peter Galarneau, Jr.
Spokesperson for the COALITION AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF
WEATHERFORD SAND SILOS IN RESIDENTIAL NORTH BUCKHANNON

Upshur Co. Development Authority Board: Letter to the Editor

For those who have not had a chance to review the August 20 Record Delta Letter to the Editor by the Board of Directors of the Upshur County Development Authority, I offer it HERE for your review. The Coalition's response to this will be available in Wednesday's Record Delta. Further information will be made available on this blog following the publication.

Yes...I Will be Responding

For those of you coming to this blog to find a response to the Letter to the Record-Delta Editor on Wed. Aug. 20 by the Upshur Co. Development Authority Board of Directors, you can be assured that the response is coming and should appear in next Wednesday's edition along with some new information on this blog.

And for those of you who wished that school would start back so that my time would be preooccupied with helping my students toward critical thinking, it has and I am. However, the students have only served to reinvigorate me. Plus, I have some great case study material now. I thank the Development Authority for bringing all of this back to the surface. The Coalition is re-energized.

Also, as the moderator of this blog, I have kept it a policy to let people make what remarks they wish public and available here. Both pros and cons. Even those who have stereotyped me and who don't even know me. The blog will rile some feathers, understood. But its purpose is a support mechanism for those who feel theatened by this calamity and do not have a say in it through "traditional" methods.

Recent posts are moving toward feedback name-calling between those who post (also known as Flaming). Please stick to the issues and don't use this blog as a means to call each other names. Future posts such as these will be deleted.

Still Watching, Still Waiting

The silence from the City Council has been deafening. Council or other official entities in Upshur County have been quite silent since the last council meeting. Not really sure what this means. If you talk to some people who are "in the know", this means that the silos are going to Century and Weatherford's central headquarters is staying on the CJ Martin hill (where it was always meant to be). But with all the lies and smoke & mirrors that have circulated over this issue, I am not holding my breath.

The City needs to tell us that "The Silos are not going to be in North Buckhannon". Yes, they rescinded the right-of-way across Harrison Avenue, but why won't they say..."There will be no Silos in North Buckhannon"? And make the commitment in an official statement. It would put this thing to rest.

One thing is certain. If any new vote concerning the right-of-way access to the proposed Silo site is in the future, Mayor Davidson promised in the last council meeting that he would hold a special meeting with the residents of Buckhannon before that happens.

Stay alert. Keep informed. Use this blog to relay info.

Thank you Elijah

I wanted to make Elijah Luthor's recent comment front and center. In a very thoughful, intelligent way, he has brought to the surface exactly what we are feeling. If the highest law in our country is the Supreme Court, and if the Supreme Court bases its decisions on our Constitution and Declaration of Independence then we know that the primary LAW is to protect the people. God Bless, Elijah.

- Elijah's Comment

Further Discussion Concerning The July 9 Meeting

In this blog entry I will bring up, once again, Point #3 (I want to keep jobs in West Virginia. If this cannot be resolved in 30 days we are pulling everything out) and Point #4 (But there’s no other place to put the silos). To re-review the points I discussed in my Letter to the Editor, go here. Keep in mind that these points are based on the information revealed in a non-confidential meeting on July 9, between me and Dave Thomas (councilman), Kenny Davidson (mayor), Steve Foster (Executive Dir. Upshur Co. Development Authority), Skeeter Queen (councilman), Dave Rexroad (owner of the property in question), and Rick Smith (Weatherford representative).



Point #3:

The conversation that preceded Rick Smith's "promise" to pull out Weatherford's interests was this:

• Davidson: "Your people in Houston said, 'get out of here'. What do we need to do and what's the time frame? What do we need to do to convince Houston we want you in this community?"
• Smith: "We're running out of time. We've already got $28,000 into this..."
• Thomas: "Answer Kenny's question."
• Smith: "You've got 30 days. Fifteen minutes before the meeting the Ops manager said the heck with Upshur County and get out. I said no."

It is evident, as I have said, that Weatherford's interests in Upshur County are profound and based on the gas-laden shale underground and competition. They have set up a staging area beside Shop n' Save, and as one of our blogger comments suggest (and what I've heard from others) is that they are hiring.

As of today, the 30-day "warning" "promise" "threat" (however you want to look at it) has passed. Weatherford is still here, is ramping up business and will continue to fracture the shale under Upshur County until the gas extraction is no longer feasible.

Point #4:
Those who are pushing to put these silos in N. Buckhannon have consistently made the claim that it is the ONLY place in Upshur County to put them. All Of Upshur County. Anyone with half a thought knows that the very statement is illogical. And now we have our mayor Davidson, revealing in the city council meeting of August 7, that he was told that Weatherford is looking at two other places, while also acknowledging that N. Buckhannon was still in play. He said he did not know of one of the other locations but said that the second one is in Barbour County. I have heard from those on the development board that this location is Century.

But what really is striking is that our mayor either does not know (????) or will not reveal what I have found out from State Senator Randy White. Randy White knew where the second location was: the Mike Ross owned land that has been with this argument since we first knew about the silos. Why would a state senator know something the local "leader" does not?

I want to say to Senator White, thank you for coming over to North Buckhannon, meeting with the citizens, listening to their concerns, going out to the proposed site and speaking with me at my home. These are the efforts that we, the people, expect of our elected officials and as far as I know, he's been the only one to personally visit. I do understand that Representative Hamilton is also supportive and he has our thanks as well.

I did want to direct those who wish to view it, to the Upshur County Development Authority's (the one responsible for bringing Weatherford to Buckhannon) web site. This link will take you to information on how the Authority describes the Industrial Park, a place built more than a decade ago for the purpose of bringing business like Weatherford here. You'll see that the web site says that the Park has everthing needed for a business like Weatherford available: Electric, Water, Gas, Sewer, Rail, an Airport, and a four-lane highway. Enough said.

If it Concerned You, You Would Do the Same

Discussions promoted by the recent comments on this blog go right to the heart of a troubling trend in the U.S. that, seemingly, will never have answers. Until an issue surfaces that affects you, personally, citizens will maintain a do nothing approach. I have been as guilty of this as anyone.

BUT...this issue affects me, my loved ones and my neighbors. I did not want to become involved. The City of Buckhannon and Upshur County (and the long history of events that have led to the current debacle) has forced someone to take a lead. I don't ask for your or anyone else's sympathy. I only ask that those in power do what is right. It is their responsibility to first, protect the citizens that voted them into office.

Our neighborhood has congealed in a way that makes me quite proud. My neighbors have demonstrated effort that has renewed my hope in the U.S. democratic right to assemble and protest against what is seen as unjust.

The local government has failed in its promise for transparency. This blog is the result of that neglect.

It isn't burning smoke, or rain, or water vapor, or anything else but proppant

This FIGHT has nothing to do with the value of jobs and everything to do with the lives of innocent residents in North Buckhannon. We are irrelevant ???


This video was captured on August 1, 2008 (approx. 2:30 PM). Location: Tennerton, WV.

?? But the silica sand will be controlled and contained ??

OK. It's now time to begin further discussion concerning some of the points I made in my Letter to the Editor (Record Delta - July 23, 2008).

Point Number 5: "The silica sand will be controlled and contained"

First and foremost, there IS DANGER from the silica contained in the proppant used by Weatherford (and the drilling industry in general). If you are an employer that uses such carcinogens, you are required by OSHA to warn your employees of their use of it. Then you, as an employee, can decide whether to place yourself in jeopardy. But the people in North Buckhannon (residents) would not have this choice. So Weatherford, in their persuasive attempt to get the residents to agree to the silo construction, said that "the silica sand will be controlled and contained." I have argued that this is not possible even for a responsible company.

• OSHA's Official Instruction on Silicosis

Many residents may not know this, but Weatherford is currently conducting business in the Tennerton area, in a small lot located next to Shop n' Save. This area is directly adjacent to the townhouse complex . PLEASE, take a quick trip out there and take a look at the "controlled and contained" conditions located there. They are not. The conditions are anything but contained.

In Weatherford's "Environmental Manual for Global Operations" which you can look through by visiting City Hall, it is stated, in bold, on page 14, under the subtitle "Responding to a Spill"...

All spills, regardless of size must be cleaned up immediately.

Considering that this manual is meant for the "environment" of the employee (not the environment of the Earth), the conditions in Tennerton do not follow Weatherford's own manual standards.

And the following pictures, taken on August 1, 2008 (around 1:00 PM) will attest to the fact that proppant, (silica sand) is not being contained or controlled. When you begin to think about the 1.2 MILLION POUNDS of proppant that is scheduled to be stored in each silo, such lax containment standards as shown in this much smaller scale operation is a recipe for disaster.

• PICTURES TAKEN AUG 1, 2008

Controlled and Contained ????????

Get Involved

Stay informed and get involved; it is your civic duty and one of our greatest U.S. freedoms. Citizens are the watchdogs of policies and positions. It is our responsibility, particularly when the issue, such as proppant silos located in residential areas, hit close to home.

Following is a list of ways that you can voice your opinion about this issue (and most issues that arise in the future).

• Download, print and sign the petition created by the COALITION AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF WEATHERFORD SAND SILOS IN RESIDENTIAL NORTH BUCKHANNON. Take your signed position and submit it to City Hall. (download the petition)
  
• Contact your local city officials and voice your opinion against the silos. Here are some some contact numbers:
  - City Hall: 472-1651
  - Mayor Kenny Davidson: (cell) 642-1651
  - Councilman Keith Queen: (cell) 642-6525
  - Councilman David Thomas: 472-7007
  
• Contact your state Legislatures. A list of those representing our area can be found here. Remember, it is an election year!
  
• Go to City Council meetings. Engage the council in discussion. Council meets every first and third Thursday of each month, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
  
• If you can't make the meetings, you can watch recordings on the Friday following the meeting. They can be viewed on local access channel 3 between the hours of 6-7 p.m. (time may vary).
  
• Send a Letter to the Editor to one of the local papers, including The Record Delta, The Intermountain and the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.
  
• And you can add a comment to this blog. Do you have a story to tell. Has your life been affected by silica or the drilling industry or the Buckhannon city council or perhaps you want to add to this discussion.

RETURN TO THIS BLOG often during the next few weeks as I will be adding some very interesting information regarding Weatherford's business conduct.

Smoke & Mirrors, Inconsistencies, and the Sacrificial Lamb

Some have asked that I post the text of the Letter to the Editor I wrote for the Record-Delta. Here it is:


Smoke & Mirrors, Inconsistencies, and the Sacrificial Lamb

Dear Editor:

I live in North Buckhannon and I am mad as…(well you can fill in the blank). What is it about this end of Buckhannon that makes some in the city and county want to industrialize it? Don’t we have an Industrial Park? Aren’t there other properties better suited to housing the danger, property value damage and destruction of our peace that four 80-foot-plus towers of silica sand WILL bring to the more than 200 residents of North Buckhannon? The answer is Yes. Of course it’s Yes. And don’t let anyone try to convince you otherwise. Beware of the smoke and mirrors and inconsistencies that are being promoted by our city’s elected officials, county development authority and the energy corporation they represent, Weatherford International.

I have spent the last two months of my life talking, walking and researching. I’ve talked with everyone from the men who work the natural gas extraction industry to just about every elected official in the city trying to find a reason why anyone would allow such absolute illogic to fester to its current degree even against the will and voices and signatures to a petition that represents nearly three-quarters of the population in North Buckhannon. So why would you care? If you live here in North Buckhannon, you already know why. If you don’t live here, prepare yourself. If the powers that be can make us its sacrificial lamb, their money and influence can find its way to your backyard too.

Let me review. Why should these towers not be located adjacent to Buckhannon residents? They will contain silica-based sand that is manufactured in such a way that it is invisible. The dust becomes airborne and can travel great distances in the wind (check it out at http://www.silicosis-net.org/). Then there’s the maddening truck traffic noise, pollution, damage to city streets and drainage systems, and light pollution. These issues aside, the depreciation of property value of all residents in North Buckhannon is guaranteed (as an example, ask those who live or lived next to the development of Trus Joist more than a decade ago). The mass of voices who have petitioned against this illogical proposition should be enough. Any well-reasoning person should understand. But what we have here is a complete lack of reason. And the proof can be found for anyone willing to take the time and energy that I and several of my neighbors have taken.

I’ll explain by refuting information revealed in a special meeting on July 9 in which the information communicated was agreed upon to be non-confidential. Those in attendance included Pete Galarneau, Dave Thomas, Kenny Davidson, Steve Foster, Skeeter Queen, Dave Rexroad, and Rick Smith:

1. Let’s start with the pro-silo battle cry: We’ll get 160 jobs at an average salary of $75,000. Not really. If you think about, the average energy worker doesn’t make that kind of money (I asked them). To even come close to making that cash you have to be one of the engineers or chemists or top-end administrators, or you have to pull consistent 80-hour-plus work weeks. Next, you have to ask, where are the jobs coming from? They will most likely come from West Virginia but don’t assume that means they are local. If fact, businesses seldom if ever guarantee that their application pool will be directed to one small town or county. And they cannot guarantee that the workers will live in the area in which they work, and they cannot guarantee that they will shop in one place or another, etc., etc., etc.
2. Next: If we say no to the silos we are saying We are Closed for Business. No. This too is a fallacy. The argument that this tends to conjure is that the petitioners of North Buckhannon don’t want business. I have yet to talk to anyone who has this view. The central argument, which this statement tends to muddy over, is that we don’t want the storage tanks located next to residents (many of them elderly) and young children of Buckhannon. Have your business here Weatherford, but do it in a socially responsible manner. What’s more important? Money or lives? And please remember that our state motto is now Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia. Hundreds of people suffering from industry is not Wild, Wonderful or very West Virginian.
3. I want to keep jobs in West Virginia. If this cannot be resolved in 30 days we are pulling everything out. Wrong again. Weatherford is not going to leave West Virginia. Why? There is a geological formation know as the Marcellus Shale that runs deep underground from a line extending around Upshur County that parallels I-79 and runs the width of West Virginia to the west (http://www.wvsoro.org/resources/marcellus/index.html) There has been renewed interest in the pockets of natural gas that are stored in the fractures of this shale but, until the occurrence of soaring oil prices, has been to expensive to extract. Not now. Weatherford will not leave all this potential profit to its competitors. In fact, that’s why we’ve seen such a great influx of energy corporations into this area. Competition. If you look into the geological documents concerning the shale, you’ll find that there is a “hot spot” in Upshur County. Add to this that Weatherford currently continues to bring in equipment, trailers, and has asked that the water main be moved where their main business warehouse will be located (CJ Martin’s Property). Weatherford can stay…will stay. But the silos have to be placed somewhere else.
4. But there’s no other place to put the silos. Cop out. There are other places if one does what our elected officials were elected to do: serve the people. These other properties have access to rail and utilities. If someone tells you that there is no other place, review the special public meeting of May 29, recorded by Video Imaging, and you will find inconsistencies in this statement. In one instance it is argued that there is no other place and in the next instance it is revealed that they had been talking to the owners of other places. Smoke and mirrors. Inconsistencies.
5. But the silica sand will be controlled and contained. Seriously? Something invisible can be controlled and contained? Get online and search for yourself. You’ll find many other towns who now suffer from such arguments. There is plenty of evidence that people in these communities have become sick, that their property values have tumbled and that these people have moved out to save what life and liberty they once had.
6. The sand is just like the sand you played with in your sand box. No. It comes from very special quarries in Texas, Minnesota and Canada. This “sand” is commonly referred to as a propant. It is very fine, polished, strong and its particulate size is tinier than that of the head of a pin. It has to be able to “prop” open the shale at the pressures underground. Being so tiny and therefore light, it can easily become airborne and invisible. Its size is nothing like the sand in your sand box. And when it finds its way into your lungs, it settles in very deep so that over time it forms into a cancer called silicosis (don’t believe me? Ask those who suffer from it as I did)
7. Buckhannon is no different than South Charleston. No argument necessary.
8. We’ll paint the silos green and put strawberries on them. Condescending.
9. Well, I used to live in North Buckhannon. But you don’t now.
10. Didn’t you know that when you bought your home near a railroad that industry would be coming? No. I didn’t. None who have signed the petition did. We like our peace of living and if that means a train whistle blows every now and then, fine. In fact it has become a part of the West Virginia backdrop for the residents here. With this argument in place, perhaps we should consider moving a chemical plant like one in South Charleston next to City Hall. There’s a railroad track there, too.
    
    And then there is the document that you can view as public record that was used to apply for permits by Weatherford. What is applied for is not consistent to what they are now planning. What was 40-foot silos is now 80. What was 10 trucks per day is now 40. What will it be next? The storage of acid, nitrogen, concrete and other hazardous materials necessary in the natural gas extraction industry? We can’t be sure because Weatherford now has a history with us. And West Virginians never forget.
    
    Even if you don’t live here, your children may be playing on the swings at the Head Start two blocks away. Perhaps your child is involved with youth soccer down at the end of Cleveland Ave. Perhaps you enjoy coming over to the city park. Maybe you go to school at the Eberle Tech Center.
    
    Now it is up to the ethics of our elected, for the people, governance to make a decision: The voices of its citizens who have struggled to make their lives the best they can be OR the fallacy of arguments from a company that will reap what they can before the energy crisis is over and leave behind shattered memories for which they will take no responsibility.
    
    Can’t our elected officials see through the smoke and mirrors and inconsistencies? Do those on city council who have bought into, and in some cases, created disinformation really want the citizens they represent to be sacrificial lambs?
    
    The Good Book would not have agreed.
    
    
    
    -Peter Galarneau, Jr.
    Spokesperson for the COALITION AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF
    WEATHERFORD SAND SILOS IN RESIDENTIAL NORTH BUCKHANNON
    

New Council Seat will be Connected

The July 30 issue of the Record Delta provides information about the process involved in the city council's attempt to fill the seventh vacant spot (vacated when Davidson, a former councilmen, was elected mayor). Make no mistake; this 7th seat will play a HUGE role in the decision whether the proppant silos are allowed to be built next to the residents of North Buckhannon. Reliable sources have revealed that, most likely, there is currently a 3-3 split on the future silo decision. This seventh person could act as the swing vote. This seventh person could help decide whether the future of N. Buckhannon remains peacefully domestic and rural or N. Buckhannon becomes the industrial slum of a beautiful, pleasant, "John Mellencamp" town.

Stay aware...be prepared. It will take all of us to fight this continuing act of illogic.

Against the Weatherford Silos

I have started this blog to help keep those concerned with the continuing saga in Buckhannon, West Virginia, an issue that surrounds the desire by Weatherford International to erect 80-foot plus towers of silica (proppant) next to the residents of what is known as North Buckhannon.

Information in the blog concerning this issue has been collected over some time and as the designated Spokesperson for the approximately 200 residents that will be most immediately affected, I feel compelled to make this information available in a public venue that is not delayed and directed by traditional media. In most cases, the concerns expressed in these blog posts related to this issue are reflected by those residents of North Buckhannon (N.B.). I invite all responses as public argument and engagement is the hub of our great democracy.

To begin, it would be most appropriate to provide a summary (timeline) of what is going on and why 80% of the population has signed anti-silo petitions, voiced opposition in public venues and/or have contacted government voicing great concern. This is not a complete timeline as of this posting...updates will be made as more information becomes available.

• May 1, 2008: City of Buckhannon city council agreed to grant access across Harrison Avenue (a paper street) so that a railroad spur could be constructed onto property leased by David Rexroad to Weatherford International. The purpose for the use of this land at the time, was, according to some members of the council including Keith Queen, Jerry Henderson and Nancy Shobe, unknown. Access was granted.
• The week of May 19: An anonymous carrier attached flyers to the doors of the residents of N.B. announcing that a "Special Meeting" would take place so that the City of Buckhannon, The Upshur County Development Authority, the architectural firm Van Nostrand Architects and the energy corporation Weatherford International could present its intent to build proppant containing silos on property which runs directly parallel to the residents of this area of the city (view copy of flyer). No considerate effort to notify the residents was given by any of the presenters, a travesty given the importance of the issue and the effects that would be sustained by city residents.
• May 29: A special meeting in N.B. (a taped copy can be obtained from public access Channel 3 in Buckhannon) was held in which a presentation was begun by members of the above-mentioned entities. Rick Smith represented the interests of Weatherford International. The meeting quickly raised fears from those in attendance as plans were revealed to erect four 80-foot proppant (silica sand) silos, build a railroad spur that would enable the delivery of the proppant from outside the state (Minnesota) and operate as many as forty 30-40 ton trucks (on residential roads) between the hours of 5 p.m - 8 p.m. This information was in great contrast to that which was requested in a letter to the City, a letter that council based its decision on to grant access across Harrison Ave. The letter noted four forty-foot silos and ten trucks (copy of letter can be viewed here). The meeting ended with the residents furious that they had not been told of such intents, a feeling that information was being hidden from them.
• Beginning the week of June 2: A petition began to circulate through the community (a copy of the petition can be viewed here).
• June 5: During the city council meeting, it was agreed that the decision to allow access to Weatherford International to cross Harrison Avenue would be tabled based on the inaccurate, conflicting information submitted to the city in its application for access.
• June 10: Election for new city council takes place. A new major is elected, Kenny Davidson, emptying one council seat (which he previously occupied). All other council members remained the same.
• June 19: First submission of petitions made to city council meeting. No action was taken on them. I was selected as the Spokesperson for the Coalition Against the Construction of the Weatherford Silos in N.B. I presented to the council the concerns of the citizens as referenced in the petition.
• July 1: New mayor and five council members (minus the vacant spot) take office leaving and even number of voting members
• July 3: Council agrees to open the decision for council seat to letters of interest to be submitted by July 18.
• July 9: A special meeting with the following participants is conducted: Pete Galarneau, Dave Thomas, Kenny Davidson, Steve Foster, Skeeter Queen, Dave Rexroad, and Rick Smith. This was a closed meeting in which, in sum, it was agreed that a Special Meeting would take place on July 21 with the people of Buckhannon to further discuss the issues, since the meeting of May 29 came as a complete surprise. Also, it was agreed that on July 24, a special council meeting would be conducted for the purpose of voting for the access that Weatherford requested to use the silo property. Of particular importance in this meeting was an agreement that communication about future meetings and discussions concerning the silo issues would be promptly made to the residents of N.B. and the community as a whole. It was agreed that the announcement of the July 21 special meeting would be immediate. Galarneau made the following recommendations to those in the meeting (copy of recommendations available here)
• July 16: The first oppositional Letters to the Editor appear in the Record-Delta (copy available here )
• July 17: Official notice by the city of the special meeting of July 21 is, finally, made during the city council meeting. Prompt release of information in a manner that is evident and compassionate is still not a priority.
• July 21: On the morning of the day that the special meeting is to be held, after the Coalition had done an exhausting, magnificent job of notifying concerned citizens (a duty that should have been the concentration of the city) about the meeting, Weatherford representative Rick Smith cancels the meeting. Several people wait outside the special meeting place (16 Thurman Avenue) because they, apparently, were not informed of its cancellation. Residents said that these people included Senator Bill Hamilton and city attorney Dave McCauley.
• July 23: Notice is made in the Record-Delta that no vote will take place in a special city council meeting originally scheduled for July 24.
• July 23: More oppositional Letters to the Editor appear in the Record-Delta (letter 1 / letter 2) including my own as the Spokesperson for the people. In the letter, I reference the meeting of July 9 (copy available here) (letter 3)
• July 24: Meeting to vote on access is cancelled.
• July 28: No new meetings with the community have been scheduled.
• more timeline to come...

This is only a brief timeline summary and I will expand upon these items as time and information allows. For now, please know that I will make every effort to keep the community updated from the perspective of those concerned about the industrialization of North Buckhannon.

This blog, too, will serve as testimony and case study for other communities facing similar problems.