When I was a kid a highlight of each summer was the prospect of a visit to Moon Lake Park. In a region where in-ground pools were mostly the playthings of the wealthy, it was nice to have a place where kids could play in the kiddie pool, and older kids and adults could enjoy the full-sized pool or take boats out on the lake. Camping facilities were available for those who were into that sort of thing. It wasn't the most fabulous place in the world, but it was a fun thing to have nearby. (And the traditional stop for ice cream along the way wasn't so bad, either.)
Moon Lake Park has fallen on hard times recently, though by "recently" I suppose I mean "in recent decades." A few weeks ago it was announced that due to budget restrictions, the park would be closed. The county began preparing to sell off assets before the body was even cold, to the consternation of some. Was there some sort of plan here that involved Moon Lake Park no longer being a park?
Moon Lake Park's fate lies in county budget - News - Citizens Voice - October 7, 2009
Moon Lake Park Could Close - pahomepage.com, January 14, 2010
Political Rants: Moon Lake Park - January 15, 2010 - Did a blogger scoop everyone on the intended fate of this park?
Four companies express interest in Moon Lake Park - News - Citizens Voice - February 9, 2010 - What exactly do they mean by "managing"?
And then today's news:
Officials, gas company in talks over leasing Moon Lake Park - News - Citizens Voice - February 13, 2010
So now, for me at least, gas drilling will no longer be something that happens far away. It's coming to Moon Lake Park.
UPDATE, 2/14/2010: More links for this topic:
Another Monkey: Raping the environment (again) - More than fifty years after the end of anthracite coal mining in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the environmental damage remains. Will it be any different with Marcellus Shale drilling?
Wilkes-Barre Online and Circumlocution for Dummies - Two blogs by Mark Cour, frequently focusing on Marcellus Shale drilling and clean water issues.
The Susquehanna River Sentinel (old site) and The Susquehanna River Sentinel (new linkable version) - Two blogs by Don Williams, aka Kayak Dude, focusing on the Susquehanna River and the effects of environmentally destructive actions - which currently means Marcellus Shale drilling.
SPLASHDOWN! - Blogging from NEPA about gas drilling, here and across the U.S.
Frack Mountain - From the Back Mountain, a beautiful area of Northeastern Pennsylvania just northwest of Wilkes-Barre, comes another blog that tackles the issue of environmental damage caused by irresponsible natural gas extraction.
Another Monkey: Raping the environment (again) - More than fifty years after the end of anthracite coal mining in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the environmental damage remains. Will it be any different with Marcellus Shale drilling?
Wilkes-Barre Online and Circumlocution for Dummies - Two blogs by Mark Cour, frequently focusing on Marcellus Shale drilling and clean water issues.
The Susquehanna River Sentinel (old site) and The Susquehanna River Sentinel (new linkable version) - Two blogs by Don Williams, aka Kayak Dude, focusing on the Susquehanna River and the effects of environmentally destructive actions - which currently means Marcellus Shale drilling.
SPLASHDOWN! - Blogging from NEPA about gas drilling, here and across the U.S.
Frack Mountain - From the Back Mountain, a beautiful area of Northeastern Pennsylvania just northwest of Wilkes-Barre, comes another blog that tackles the issue of environmental damage caused by irresponsible natural gas extraction.
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5 comments:
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"So now, for me at least, gas drilling will no longer be something that happens far away. It's coming to Moon Lake Park."
Soooooo is this a case of NIMBY, or sharing a nostalgic loss, or anger over corporate scheming, or..??
Just curious. And no, did not stop to read all the linked material.
...tom...
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It's a little of all of the above. Not so much the NIMBY: The way gas extraction through hydrologic fracturing (fracking) is done shouldn't be done in ANYONE's back yard, or front yard, or (most especially) watershed. The movie "Gasland" (which I haven't seen yet) apparently documents the consequences of irresponsible and destructive gas-extraction methods in detail. See also the linked blogs "Circumlocution for Dummies" and "The Susquehanna River Sentinel."
I've actually blogged a few times in the past about this issue. But up until now, this was something fairly distant for me. The fact that it will be taking place so much closer just brings it home.
And, yeah, there's been a lot of corporate scheming here, and suspicions of involvement by corrupt county government officials and suspected ties to organized crime. This area has gotten lots of bad press nationally of late as a consequence of an ongoing FBI investigation into corruption (Google "kids for cash" for one example), but that's not reason to believe that such things are no longer going on.
Unless you grew up in the Wyoming Valley, you would have no clue what the anthracite coal mining industry left behind as its legacy. This isn't a NIMBY thing at all. We simply don't want this to happen again.
Tom, I've added some links at the end of the original post, including one to my own blog illustrating what Don is saying.
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hey there again.
Thanks Don, D.B. for the additional links. I confess if had no fracking idea what 'fracking' was until I started reading this post.
And we thought our problem with hog manure here in Iowa is a 'big problem'. Seems the peeps of Pennsylvania and the rest of the Appalachian area have much bigger problems of much longer duration.
Very interesting.
Never fail to use your blogs, your comments, your links to educate. Never know who might be the next reader coming along...
...tom...
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