Comments on: Small Town Takes on Mining Giant

By: Fracking Wars: Pittsburgh Bans Natural Gas Drilling : Sierra Voices

Fracking Wars: Pittsburgh Bans Natural Gas Drilling : Sierra Voices — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:47:58 +0000

[...] the still guttering flame of democracy in America, look in the heartland, in small towns such as Blaine Township, Pennsylvania, and now in Pittsburgh, where town councils are voting to deny corporations the [...]

By: depelton

depelton — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:53:58 +0000

Fred Kramer, resident of Blaine Township, whose flag-draped home is pictured in my article above, says:

“My home is 156 years old. My home will be destroyed when it is undermined. I will lose everything that I came to Blaine Township for.”

By: Don Pelton

Don Pelton — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:42:21 +0000

Here's a description of longwall mining from the book, Be The Change: How to Get What You Want in Your Community, by Thomas Linzey, Anneke Campbell "The procedure for longwall coal mining goes something like this: six to eight hundred feet below the earth’s surface, depending on the seam, a machine moves across the face of the coal, grinding it up at tremendous speed. After the machines come through and remove the coal, the earth drops three to six feet above the seam. This is called subsidence. The damage caused by subsidence has caused the practice of longwall mining to be banned in Germany — the country where it originated.”

By: Don Pelton

Don Pelton — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:03:37 +0000

To understand the unbelievable destructiveness and obscenity of longwall mining and the significance of Blaine’s response to it, it’s necessary to watch Kagan’s video. Don’t rely on my few comments.

By: depelton

depelton — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:21:22 +0000

Thanks, Jeff. I’m sure it would be interesting to know about jobs, but what’s significant in this story is the issue of “who decides?”

I doubt that any of those people whose land is destroyed would find that destruction amply compensated by an opportunity to work in the mine!

By: jeffpelline

jeffpelline — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:17:25 +0000

don,
great case study. but would like to see you address the jobs in a small community angle, which is always raised.