Road to Silver Hill, Still Open

Henry and Cecilia Ries said they are very frustrated they can’t get out of their residence for necessary trips to town including work. In addition to the debris blocking the driveway, the slip has also taken out their phone and internet lines, as reported in the Wetzel Chronicle.

“We’ve been stuck here,” said the Ries of St. Joseph’s Settlement, on the  Wetzel Marshall county line.  The only way they can get around is with a buggy-style all-terrain vehicle, and are concerned that emergency vehicles are not able to reach them if needed. Cecilia said that there was a small slip about a month ago and Chesapeake has known the Barnett Well Pad has been slipping.

Cecilia, who works as an EMT with Wetzel County EMS, says she is very concerned about not being able to do her job. “I’m the only EMT (at the New Martinsville station) during the day. That’s a lot of responsibility.” Similarly, Henry is losing $289 a day not being able to go to his job as a CSX conductor. Furthermore, Henry says his job is at stake at this point with the number of absences he’s unavoidably incurred. “This is not my fault. I’m not playing hooky here,” Henry declares. “It’s Chesapeake‘s fault for not being compassionate to us. I want compensated. They (Chesapeake) don’t care. We’re just a bunch of rednecks to them.”

Chesapeake has been working on this problem and has promised to clean it up.