Friday, April 20, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Groups of 10, what's in a lawn, and meeting dates for the rest of April and May, 2018
What is the history of Air Pollution in Western PA? Tonight, Wednesday, April 18, 2018 is the inaugural meeting of Groups of 10 at the Monroeville Public Library. Groups of 10 is a project of the Clean Air Council. For details contact Madeline Havrilla, maddiehav247@gmail.com
What's in a lawn? Or rather, why is it sooooo very important to understand why the answers to our civilizational woes are in the soil?
Civilizations rise and fall based on the quality and fertility of their soil. Soil is a living civilization under our feet! Or it ought to be...In the past 10 years in the state of PA, we've not been paying much attention to the state of our soil. Did I say the past ten years? Hmmmm, it's really more like the past 100+ years! With the industrial revolution in the U.S. and around the world, and the rise of the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, on our lawns, on our food and other crops, and the rise of post WWII Agribusiness with a huge influx of genetically modified (GMO) crops, our soil and our physical health has gone to #@^&....Well, you get the idea!
Most recently deep Marcellus Shale exploration to force natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations thousands of feet, miles below us, (aka Fracking) using millions of gallons of our river water....specifically at the moment being planned for right here in Monroeville, PA, and occurring already in the surrounding communities of Penn Township, Murrysville, Upper and Lower Burrell, and elsewhere, we have not been respecting Mother Earth one bit...And with that, our once fertile Western PA soils are not so fertile anymore...Neither are the people for that matter. Studies have shown due to the agrochemicals from industrial farming and the chemicals used, produced and poured into our environment through the air and water in coal, nuclear, and gas exploitation, men's sperm counts are down and women are having trouble conceiving children. It's the issue of hormone disruption. Sexual confusion. Boys being born with undescended testicles or no prostate, and women's sex organs confused...No wonder our youth and young adults are so mixed up! Literally...physically mixed up due to the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals being ingested by mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers...Read the works of Theo Colburn and the Environmental Working Group for more information on this topic (EWG.org)
It's time to go back to no-till farming methods. It's time to do organic farming our front yards, our back yards and our side yards. It's time to vote people in that understand Life on this planet. It's time to reconnect with our Mother. Mother Earth, Panchamama! How? Scroll back to 2009 and 2010 up to the present on this very blog, sustainablemonroeville.blogspot.com, and Extra Extra, Read all about Permaculture and the culture of LIFE rather than us continuing on with the extractive industries and the Culture of DEATH. Our lives as human beings on Planet Earth depend on it!
It's time to wake up and smell the roses...if you can through some of the most polluted air in the world, here in these beautiful hills and valleys of Western PA...where the industrial revolution began and is in the process of ending as we have known it!
Be strong, be empowered, speak up and out whenever you can. Write, call, text, e-mail to your councilperson, your Mayor, your Municipal Manager...And then do it again! Your voice and most of all your VOTE matters!
Meeting Dates for April and May, 2018:
The next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville is on Monday evening, May 7, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library.
The next Monroeville Citizen's Night is Thursday evening, May 10 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
The next council meeting is on May 15, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
All municipal officials, the municipal manager and the Mayor are always invited to Sustainable Monroeville meetings. We're hoping they join us for the month of May and then plan a Town Meeting in council chambers. The citizens of Monroeville sure have a LOT of unanswered questions about how the Seismic Testing was conducted by Geokinetics and what plans Huntley and Huntley has for the development of Marcellus and Utica Shale exploration in our town...
Onward we Go!
Many Blessings for a wonderful springtime and remember to shine your light bright!
The truth will prevail,
Elisa Beck on behalf of
Sustainable Monroeville
Like Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
SustainableMonroeville@gmail.com
Share this blog address with your friends and remember to report stinky air on the SMELLPGH App. Remind your friends to do the same!
What's in a lawn? Or rather, why is it sooooo very important to understand why the answers to our civilizational woes are in the soil?
Civilizations rise and fall based on the quality and fertility of their soil. Soil is a living civilization under our feet! Or it ought to be...In the past 10 years in the state of PA, we've not been paying much attention to the state of our soil. Did I say the past ten years? Hmmmm, it's really more like the past 100+ years! With the industrial revolution in the U.S. and around the world, and the rise of the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, on our lawns, on our food and other crops, and the rise of post WWII Agribusiness with a huge influx of genetically modified (GMO) crops, our soil and our physical health has gone to #@^&....Well, you get the idea!
Most recently deep Marcellus Shale exploration to force natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations thousands of feet, miles below us, (aka Fracking) using millions of gallons of our river water....specifically at the moment being planned for right here in Monroeville, PA, and occurring already in the surrounding communities of Penn Township, Murrysville, Upper and Lower Burrell, and elsewhere, we have not been respecting Mother Earth one bit...And with that, our once fertile Western PA soils are not so fertile anymore...Neither are the people for that matter. Studies have shown due to the agrochemicals from industrial farming and the chemicals used, produced and poured into our environment through the air and water in coal, nuclear, and gas exploitation, men's sperm counts are down and women are having trouble conceiving children. It's the issue of hormone disruption. Sexual confusion. Boys being born with undescended testicles or no prostate, and women's sex organs confused...No wonder our youth and young adults are so mixed up! Literally...physically mixed up due to the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals being ingested by mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers...Read the works of Theo Colburn and the Environmental Working Group for more information on this topic (EWG.org)
It's time to go back to no-till farming methods. It's time to do organic farming our front yards, our back yards and our side yards. It's time to vote people in that understand Life on this planet. It's time to reconnect with our Mother. Mother Earth, Panchamama! How? Scroll back to 2009 and 2010 up to the present on this very blog, sustainablemonroeville.blogspot.com, and Extra Extra, Read all about Permaculture and the culture of LIFE rather than us continuing on with the extractive industries and the Culture of DEATH. Our lives as human beings on Planet Earth depend on it!
It's time to wake up and smell the roses...if you can through some of the most polluted air in the world, here in these beautiful hills and valleys of Western PA...where the industrial revolution began and is in the process of ending as we have known it!
Be strong, be empowered, speak up and out whenever you can. Write, call, text, e-mail to your councilperson, your Mayor, your Municipal Manager...And then do it again! Your voice and most of all your VOTE matters!
Meeting Dates for April and May, 2018:
The next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville is on Monday evening, May 7, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library.
The next Monroeville Citizen's Night is Thursday evening, May 10 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
The next council meeting is on May 15, 2018 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Municipal building.
All municipal officials, the municipal manager and the Mayor are always invited to Sustainable Monroeville meetings. We're hoping they join us for the month of May and then plan a Town Meeting in council chambers. The citizens of Monroeville sure have a LOT of unanswered questions about how the Seismic Testing was conducted by Geokinetics and what plans Huntley and Huntley has for the development of Marcellus and Utica Shale exploration in our town...
Onward we Go!
Many Blessings for a wonderful springtime and remember to shine your light bright!
The truth will prevail,
Elisa Beck on behalf of
Sustainable Monroeville
Like Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!
SustainableMonroeville@gmail.com
Share this blog address with your friends and remember to report stinky air on the SMELLPGH App. Remind your friends to do the same!
Friday, April 6, 2018
Seismic Testing in April, 2018 Monroeville, PA. What's Next?
Hello, and Happy windy and cold April! The delicate buds are peeking out of the ground in Monroeville, PA. So pretty. Soon the lime green buds will take over and bathe us in new life and a new way of seeing ourselves and what has been going on here in Monroeville, PA...
Be sure to mark your calendar for the April 10, 2018 at 7:00 PM Monroeville Council meeting at the Monroeville Muncipal building. Does anyone know if citizens concerns about the Seismic Testing that has been occurring in the Municipality of Monroeville has been placed on the agenda for this upcoming council meeting? Please call Mr. Little, the municipal manager, or e-mail to him to ask. Our guess is there will be many citizens at the meeting wanting some answers about what has transpired in our beautiful town of Monroeville, PA over these past few weeks. Is the testing still occurring? Seismic testing that is? Has Geokinetics completed its work? If not, when will the work be complete? Will citizens be informed of upcoming exact dates and times if Seismic charges, aka explosives, are used so we know what to expect? Who knew this would be occurring or has already occurred in at least one cemetery in Monroeville, PA? Is that a legal use of Seismic Testing, explosive seismic testing in a cemetery? These questions and many more were asked by residents at the Sustainable Monroeville meeting this past week. These questions remain unanswered. And now we're not sure what to believe based on what's in the Seismic Testing ordinance, and what's really been happening.
Here's links to a few articles that appeared in TribLive this week regarding what's been happening in Monroeville, PA this week:
http://triblive.com/local/monroeville/13503210-74/monroeville-asks-court-to-halt-companys-seismic-testing
http://triblive.com/local/monroeville/13503666-74/residents-block-seismic-testing-on-one-street-in-monroeville
As of this writing at 3:30 PM on Friday afternoon, April 5, 2018, there have been sightings of Geokinetics in Monroeville, PA. What are they doing, and where are they doing it?
The next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville will be on Monday evening, May 7, 2018 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. As always these meetings are in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library and are free and open to the public. All municipal officials, councilpersons, the Mayor, and of course all community members are invited to this next meeting where the agenda will focus on putting updated and most appropriate oil and gas laws in place to protect our property and our health as it seems fracking is coming down the pike! Please reach out to your councilperson directly to invite them to this upcoming meeting.
Based on how the Seismic Testing was handled, we, the citizens must be vigilant and be sure everyone is following the rules. We must be proactive because it has become apparent that once the industry begins what they set out to do, the ball keeps rolling even if they are not necessarily following the rules...
Below is from Doug Shields of Food and Water Watch, a Non-Profit. Doug has been helping us along in this process of educating the public about Seismic Testing and now soon, Fracking so We the People, the Citizens of Monroeville, PA will be able to protect our residences, business and health. Thanks Doug!
Be sure to mark your calendar for the April 10, 2018 at 7:00 PM Monroeville Council meeting at the Monroeville Muncipal building. Does anyone know if citizens concerns about the Seismic Testing that has been occurring in the Municipality of Monroeville has been placed on the agenda for this upcoming council meeting? Please call Mr. Little, the municipal manager, or e-mail to him to ask. Our guess is there will be many citizens at the meeting wanting some answers about what has transpired in our beautiful town of Monroeville, PA over these past few weeks. Is the testing still occurring? Seismic testing that is? Has Geokinetics completed its work? If not, when will the work be complete? Will citizens be informed of upcoming exact dates and times if Seismic charges, aka explosives, are used so we know what to expect? Who knew this would be occurring or has already occurred in at least one cemetery in Monroeville, PA? Is that a legal use of Seismic Testing, explosive seismic testing in a cemetery? These questions and many more were asked by residents at the Sustainable Monroeville meeting this past week. These questions remain unanswered. And now we're not sure what to believe based on what's in the Seismic Testing ordinance, and what's really been happening.
Here's links to a few articles that appeared in TribLive this week regarding what's been happening in Monroeville, PA this week:
http://triblive.com/local/monroeville/13503210-74/monroeville-asks-court-to-halt-companys-seismic-testing
http://triblive.com/local/monroeville/13503666-74/residents-block-seismic-testing-on-one-street-in-monroeville
As of this writing at 3:30 PM on Friday afternoon, April 5, 2018, there have been sightings of Geokinetics in Monroeville, PA. What are they doing, and where are they doing it?
The next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville will be on Monday evening, May 7, 2018 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. As always these meetings are in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library and are free and open to the public. All municipal officials, councilpersons, the Mayor, and of course all community members are invited to this next meeting where the agenda will focus on putting updated and most appropriate oil and gas laws in place to protect our property and our health as it seems fracking is coming down the pike! Please reach out to your councilperson directly to invite them to this upcoming meeting.
Based on how the Seismic Testing was handled, we, the citizens must be vigilant and be sure everyone is following the rules. We must be proactive because it has become apparent that once the industry begins what they set out to do, the ball keeps rolling even if they are not necessarily following the rules...
Below is from Doug Shields of Food and Water Watch, a Non-Profit. Doug has been helping us along in this process of educating the public about Seismic Testing and now soon, Fracking so We the People, the Citizens of Monroeville, PA will be able to protect our residences, business and health. Thanks Doug!
"There is an Oil and Gas Drilling zoning ordinance in place in Monroeville.
A brief History…
Last summer, I worked with Sustainable Monroeville to get the Seismic Survey Ordinance enacted (9/2017).
At that time I met with Manager, Tim Little, and pointed out to him that Monroeville’s zoning code:
1. Has an oil and gas section.
2. That the code allowed for fracking, as a conditional use exception, in all zoning districts of the municipality. See old ordinance (still on line) https://www.ecode360.com/documents/MO1197/source/563338.pdf#search=gas%20oil
2. That the code allowed for fracking, as a conditional use exception, in all zoning districts of the municipality. See old ordinance (still on line) https://www.ecode360.com/documents/MO1197/source/563338.pdf#search=gas%20oil
- Informed that this was an incompatible use with residential and commercial and other non-industrial zoning districts.
- Fracking is an industrial land use
- Any fracking operations should be limited to the municipality’s industrial zones, as a conditional use; it is an industrial activity it goes to the industrial zone. The industrial zones are noted in light blue on the municipal zoning map: You will note that this amendment to the zoning code significantly limits areas where drilling/fracking can be donehttp://www.monroeville.pa.us/docs/commdev/PdfZoningMap01042018.pdf
- In October, 2017, Monroeville Council amended their code to do just that.
- In December 2017, legislation was offered in Council (no one would admit to being the bill’s sponsor which is very odd) to further amend the zoning code to allow fracking in the S1 Special Conservancy district. See zoning map – dark green area in the SW of the municipality. This would increase the likelihood of fracking as there is room for a well pad there. It is about 3 miles from the well going in at the Edgar Thompson Steel mill (the portion in in N. Versailles).
- Huntley and Huntley has leases for gas in this area as well. (see FracTracker lease map: http://leases.fractracker.org
The leases are noted in orange. Click on the large orange tracts in south Monroeville – note the area is all leased by Huntley and Huntley. Then, attempt to convince me that they don’t want to frack in Monroeville. Who sponsored the amendment to expand fracking us in the S1- Special Conservancy district? I have no idea. You have to have a council member introduce the legislation. Were it not for the vigilance of Sustainable Monroeville members, the amendment may well have been passed unnoticed.
The S1- Special Conservancy district is essentially the area occupied by the old Chambers municipal waste landfill (now owned by Waste Management). The Planning commission gave the amendment a negative recommendation. Allegheny County Planning review of the proposed ordinance raised significant questions about the amendment as to both its form and substance.
The Council took action last month to remove the offered amendment from the agenda.
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code (which allows municipalities to employ zoning) you cannot ban a legal land use via zoning. I provide you with a link to a document that explains the basics of zoning very well. The matter of exclusionary zoning is defined there at page 8. “
This is a very good resource to understand the basics of zoning in PA. Easy to read and understand."
Sincerely,
Doug Shields
Douglas A. Shields
W. PA Outreach Liaison
Food & Water Watch
Cell: 1 412 969 5816
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