Patricia Kornick (letter, Feb. 17) reminds us that “in an age of fake news, it is hard to determine what is accurate.” Perhaps the inaccuracies in the rest of her letter were there as a public service to help us exercise our critical thinking skills at a time when we really need them.
Kornick stated that “PennEast Pipeline poses no threat to drinking water.” So let’s think about that. Is the pipeline proposed to pass anywhere near drinking water? Yes. In fact, it proposed to run under the drinking water supply of 16 million people.
Have any pipelines ever failed? Yes, many have, as on Jan. 30, when an oil pipeline rupture contaminated the Yellowstone River. On Oct. 21 a pipeline spilled gasoline into the Susquehanna River in Lycoming County. A list of all pipeline incidents can be found on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration website.
That brings us to the regulatory process Kornick cites to provide false assurances. Citing authorities is a classic form of dissembling. Critical thinkers know to question authority. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has rejected only one pipeline, just days after being sued for conflict of interest. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was called “woefully unprepared” to deal with the natural gas boom by the state auditor general when his office issued its scathing assessment. Our government has failed to protect us from the fossil fuel industry time and again because of its ties to it.
Sorry, but Kornick’s “facts” are of the alternate variety.
Karen Feridun
Founder, Berks Gas Truth
Kutztown
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