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Meeting the Governor

By Ken W. Dufalla 5 min read

Recently, Governor Tom Corbett visited Greene County. There has been a lot of backlash from the visit. Many people and the news media were banned from the meeting. This action upset a lot of people who wanted their voices and concerns heard.

The meeting was set up by the Republican Party of Greene County. Being the president of a non-political organization (Izaak Walton League of America-IWLA), I decided to go to the meeting and observe the topics being discussed. I entered the building where the meeting was being conducted and met my friend Archie Trader, (Republican County Commissioner). Archie is also a member of the IWLA of Greene County. I was not there to confront the governor, but instead I went to talk to the governor about some of the problems the IWLA is finding in our water testing program.

After being introduced to several members of the Republican County Committee, I was asked if I would like to stay. I said yes and purchased a ticket for the event. Upon talking to several residents attending the event, I was asked many questions about the water testing currently being conducted in the county. I felt there was a genuine concern for the water quality in the county. The one thing we all know is that no one can survive without clean water and clean air.

As the meeting progressed, each candidate was given five minutes to speak about the upcoming election. Commissioner Trader, near the end of his speech, brought to light the importance of clean water and the need to protect our most valuable resource – WATER. During the talk, he also mentioned the importance of water quality testing currently being completed by the IWLA within Greene County. To add to the depth of the testing, there are approximately 1,200 individual water samples being taken each month within the counties of Greene and southern Washington in Pa. and northern Monongalia in W.Va.

The IWLA has quite a database on the water quality in the area. Some of the water is excellent, while some is bad, bad, bad. Geographically, if one goes from Waynesburg southwest, the water quality is very good, but if one goes from Waynesburg east, the water is in many cases just plain bad. An exception to this is Ten-Mile Creek and Ruff Creek These two streams seem to be holding fairly good water quality. The water quality in Ten-Mile Creek has improved since Franklin Township Sewage System quit taking “frack” water from the drilling industry. The water quality is much better than Whiteley Creek, thus enabling the IWLA to stock trout again this fall in Ten-Mile and to also continue their third annual “Kid’s Day” and “Lady’s Day” on Oct. 15 near Clarksville.

Getting back to the meeting, I was introduced to the governor and we began talking about the water quality in the area. We discussed my concerns about the disposing of “frack” water and mining discharges. High Bromide levels have been found coming from the mine discharges at the Emerald Mine Complex. To date, no one has been able to explain why this is occurring. Remember, bromide is a key component of Trihalomethane, which is causing problems throughout the Mon River Basin. In our discussion, I explained this to the governor. He seemed to show genuine concern and stated that he is aware of the problems and is working on a solution. At that time, I was tapped on the shoulder in a polite manner indicating my time was up. The governor then stopped the process and stated he wanted to talk to me further. We did speak for several more minutes. I found him to be courteous and open to hearing about our plight in Greene County. I also mentioned that Greene County is still a part of Pennsylvania. He stated that he is aware of this and he has spent more time in the county than others before him. His statement was true and he said he will be back and he will be working on solving the water problems. At that time, I suggested the establishment of a Monongahela River Basin Commission similar to the Delaware River Basin Commission. With that said, we shook hands and parted.

Time will now tell what lies ahead for Greene County. We all know that we are one of the richest counties in mineral wealth in Pennsylvania, yet we are one of the poorest. I do not understand this concept either. With the Marcellus and new mines, we should have one of the highest standards of living in the state.

One other thing that may interest you is that Commissioner Trader did state that the county officials are looking at a tax cut this year. This is due mainly to the $86,000 dollars that the county is receiving monthly from a Marcellus well that the county owns; a second well is due to come online in the future. The Marcellus drilling can be a good thing if operated in a responsible manner. There is no need to cut corners on protecting our water and air. The technology is there. But as citizens, we must demand that our greatest resources -water and air- must be protected.

As always, give thanks to God for what you have, share with others and respect what others have.

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