As soon as the meeting commenced, township officials attempted to approve the new emergency plan without public questions or comment. A member of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, Dr. Tom Juinta, objected, saying that the plan should not be adopted without open discussion.
The meeting was then opened up for questions. Several members of the public asked for specifics of the plan but, taken as a whole, there was not a lot of information supplied. Township officials repeatedly stated that it was the Encana emergency plan that we should be concerned with. They also readily admitted that they were not prepared to handle an event on a par with the explosion in Clearfield county. There was a lot of emphasis on what others would do. Encana, the EPA, FEMA, the county.
I asked officials what steps would be taken in regard to underground contamination if, and when, an accident occurred and was told that this would be the EPA's area of expertise. No one knows how far reaching the effects of underground water contamination could be and, even as a resident of Kingston, I'm worried. While officials seem to have given a great deal of thought to emergency management in general, their emergency response to underground contamination appears to be little more than a phone tree. Which begs the following questions:
What can we expect as a first response to the release of toxic and carcinogenic fracking fluids into our water supply? Will any degree of containment even be feasible? Will the township to notify the public of possible drinking water contamination? How long will it take until somebody else does? How much water will be consumed in the interim? When will safe drinking water to be provided? Who will get it?
Should we have our own plan? I would say yes. Household by household. Bottle by bottle.
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