Good news from the gas drilling industry is very, very hard to come by. How does it feel to be the type of person who willingly jeopardizes the health of their family and their neighbors to satisfy their own lust for money? I know I could no longer look others in the eye if I were to do the same. But than again, I hold myself to a much higher personal standard and was taught from an early age to be considerate of those who might be impacted by my actions.

I am an ADVOCATE of responsible drilling – I do not purport, as does Frack Check in its mission statement:
“To ensure Marcellus Shale gas drilling in West Virginia is conducted responsibly and safely, this site has been designed to provides readers with information to help influence public policy decisions on the issue.”
Its mission statement, it seems to me, holds Frack Check to a standard of balance and fairness not yet displayed.
Your headline here is a case in point. Another was Frack Check’s characterization of the fact that the Duke University study of Pennsylvania wells found no frack water leakage as “surprising”. Why would Frack Check be surprised, if they did not expect a priori (and hope, maybe?) that there would have been leakage? Seems like when Frack Check finds instances of good news in the gas drilling industry (“responsible drilling”, in other words), Frack Check is disappointed!

To reiterate what I wrote in my article:
1.) While IOGA talks of the jobs brought to West Virginia, labor unions are protesting in four counties after Dominion announced it would be hiring workers from Texas instead of using local labor.
2.) In this article about the launching of the campaign, the president of IOGA argues against the need for additional regulation, when citizens of Morgantown are rallying because there is a Marcellus well permitted and ready to drill 3000 feet from their water intake, in close proximity to two schools. They want, among other things, a public comment period added to the permitting process, so that they at least would have had a say in the permitting of the wells. The Morgantown Utility Board was shocked to learn about these permits, and had to have the permits amended.
3.) Just Beneath the Surface boasts of the amount of taxes West Virginia is reaping from the natural gas industry. Paying taxes is the American thing to do: it’s not a favor that we have to say “thank you” for. However, I think it’s important to note that after the last session of the legislature, newly permitted Marcellus operations are exempt from property taxes for their first five years of operation– that’s a lot of tax money that we could have used for our schools.

As covered in previous Frack Check articles, the EPA has not concluded comprehensive studies on the health effects of Shale gas operations, a new study was recently taken up after Chesapeake shut down their operations for nearly a month following a well blow-out, and a peer-reviewed scholarly article connected shale gas drilling with methane contamination of water wells, 16 cattle drop dead after drinking fluid spilled into a field. Meanwhile “Just Beneath the Surface” says “There has never been a documented instance of water contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing” and “ingredients in fracturing fluid could affect your health—if you were exposed to them in excessive quantities. However, the concentration… is far below the levels necessary to pose a threat.”

Since you brought up the subject of biased, Mr. Blakeslee, perhaps leasing your 700 acres to gas drilling has made you biased in a way that you were able to turn a blind eye to this evidence.

Another example of your biased, unprofessional reporting, I’m afraid.