To the editor:
The front page of the Nov. 12 Herald-Mail reported on the rebuilding of the Conococheague Aqueduct in Williamsport, an $8.9 million project to enhance and promote tourism of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Then, on Nov. 17 came the news about the spillage of 210,000 gallons of tar sands oil from the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota.
TransCanada, the same company whose pipeline failed in South Dakota, wants to construct a pipeline to go under the C&O Canal and the Potomac River. It would carry fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania to West Virginia, passing through Maryland under the Potomac west of Hancock. This pipeline would have no benefit for Maryland but rather would significantly threaten our state and our neighbors.
The construction and operation of a pipeline has inherent risks, using high-pressure drilling and toxic chemicals. According to federal data from the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration, there have been more than 11,000 pipeline incidents in the past 20 years. The past three-year average has been the highest in incidents, fatalities and injuries, showing that in a 20-year period, the risk has only increased.
When a blowout and/or spill occurs, it will threaten to contaminate the water supply for over 100,000 people in Washington and Berkeley counties. It will threaten the wildlife in and along the Potomac. The instability of the porous Karst geology in our area, as seen in our numerous caves and sinkholes, increases the risk of blowout and/or spill, and would allow the pollution to quickly flow into the ground and into aquifers.
Most certainly it will threaten the multimillion-dollar project to promote tourism of the C&O Canal. In addition, it will threaten current usage of the Potomac by the thousands of people who fish and boat, and those who hike and bike the towpath, which also brings in tourist dollars.
Herald Mail Media – 12.17.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
Please read the book THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, by Naomi Klein. It is the ultimate handbook of science, humanities, and political reasons to have handy to speak and address this menace to generations to come, not just at this time.