Residents of Schuylkill County facing environmental injustice
Monday, 27 March 2006

Editor,

An environmental injustice threatens the people of Schuylkill County. In over 20 years of observing the local political scene, I have never witnessed a more brilliant snow campaign against the people of Schuylkill County and the Commonwealth than the one now being waged concerning energy independence via a proclaimed environment-friendly industry in relation to the proposed coal to diesel fuel refinery.

Our state and federal government are willing to victimize and sacrifice the safety and well being of its citizens for financial opportunity. The environmental and socio-economic aftermath of liquid fuel production and refining will leave a negative impact that will atomize the health and property values of Schuylkill and nearby counties, stigmatizing the area nationwide as an energy zone initiating low level ozone formation. The total population in this county must wake up, organize and demonstrate their objection against these dangerous facilities, or contamination of air, farmland and water supplies will become an immediate threat to human survival. This is not only North Schuylkill's problem it will become the whole county's problem.

A product liability waiver clause has been incorporated into the energy bill giving the oil industry tort protection against MTBE (Methyl t-Butyl Ether) contaminating ground water aquifers, if integrated with fuel production - aquifers that feed Schuylkill county's 37 fresh water reservoirs.

An explosion at this project would cause lethal pandemonium to surrounding communities, threatening local school districts, two prisons, and vehicles traveling on interstate 81 without a moment's notice. These are dangerous facilities that will contain thousands of gallons of highly volatile fuel. An industry of this stature does not belong smack in the middle of a residential district.

Extensive amounts of coarse slag, toxic fly ash, arsenic, and benzene (a precursor to leukemia), to name a few, are known to unmistakably cause cancer & thyroid problems in humans and animals. Mercury, a heavy metal which has the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, is known to turn on the Alzheimer's gene, and is the second most toxic element on the planet (after plutonium), will be one of the numerous pollutants to expect, at many times the rate allowed by EPA permit standards, sponsoring exposure limits held sway by giant global transnational corporations financially powerful enough to control government regulatory agencies via our very own U.S. Supreme Court. The American Petroleum Institute, over the years has rendered government regulatory agencies powerless. This petrol aristocracy is a breed of real people that are known to berate human rights and environmental issues which are supposed to be guaranteed and protected under our constitution; they sure don't get their kicks from reading Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

Most Americans have an unshakeable trust in the U.S. constitution, ignorant of the real relationship between corporate capitalism and its private de facto government at one end, and the supposedly constitutional government at the other. Masked behind the American form of government of, for, and by the people with its separation of powers, checks & balances, etc. lie hidden forces that operate outside the constitution, a confederacy of major corporations. These wise guys control the decision making process, define policies of political parties, and select candidates for elective offices through extensive influence peddling. They have found Schuylkill County to be fair game.

To stop this assault that will deplete and poison our water supplies and damage the ecosystem of our county, please contact your respective supervisors, lawmakers, and the Department of Environmental Protection, and voice your concerns. If these issues are not addressed immediately, we will forfeit our national sovereignty to the global corporation via the doctrine of acquiescence. Also demand your rights be respected through a course of action that will be guaranteed via the 1st Amendment by amending the Pennsylvania State Constitution in favor of initiative and referendum. Remember your cries and petitions will be totally ignored and not recognized absent of these binding documents. Without citizen petition rights, we Pennsylvanians have no control over our destiny. We cannot enjoy our full 1st Amendment rights until our united voice becomes legal and loud enough, only then will we be able to attain the goals we so desperately seek.

Back in 2003, a poll was taken through the soliciting of petitions in the North Schuylkill area which showed that the majority of taxpayers (14-1) opposed the location of a coal to diesel fuel refinery in our county, in a government supposedly of, for, and by the people have spoken, the majority rules, case dismissed.

Joe Arcuri,
Frackville