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.