The energy producing market has always been a staple in Pennsylvania's history. Being rich in coal, natural gas, and other forms of energy, Pennsylvania has produced much of the nation's fuel or electricity. With a location so rich in coal, companies began to open many mines in order to either stay ahead of competitors, improve production, or for easier transportation of the commodity. The large amounts of coal being mined ushered in the many railroad systems bringing another powerful business to Pennsylvania. Coal barons, mine owners, made gross amounts of money off of the hard work from miners. Coal had played such a integral role in the Keystone State that it led to some towns being named after the industry such Carbondale and Minersville. Pennsylvania quickly became associated with coal in America and whenever there was news about the state, coal was mentioned with it. Especially during both World Wars, Pennsylvania was looked to for providing energy used both at home and in the war effort. This supply shock meant mine operations needed to run efficiently and both the Federal government and the presidents during each respective time ensured the productivity would meet the great demand. Coal mining was at an all time high until tragedy struck on 22 January 1959, when the River Slope mine's roof collapsed because of the Susquehanna River causing flooding to the mine killing many workers. The disaster marked the beginning of the end to deep mining in Pennsylvania. To this day however, Pennsylvania remains strongly associated with the harvesting of many energy sources. Pennsylvania, along with being rich in coal, is now receiving kudos for its participation in the production of natural gas. An article composed by Madelon...
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... the residual effects of pollution left behind by both mining in the Chesapeake Bay area around rivers, such as the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Lutz also had quoted John Dawes, now the executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, on the damage done to streams and to the aquatic life in the streams. Dawes told Lutz "'we're looking at 4,600 miles of dead streams in Pennsylvania'" in reference to the vitality in polluted regions. This can occur in several ways but the two generally accepted causes are the toxicity levels in the water are too high to support life and the contaminated water is slowly killing off members of the food chains for the aquatic life. In either theory, the death of fish and their food chain caused by AMD is impacting the billion dollar fishing industry that calls Chesapeake Bay home.
In 1883, the first carload of coal was transported from Tazewell County, Virginia, on the Norfolk and Western Railway. The railroad opened a gateway to the untouched coal beds of West Virginia. Towns were created as the region was transformed from an agricultural to industrial economy.(West Virginia Mine Wars) The lure of good wages and housing made the coal mining appealing to West Virginians, but all good things come at a price. In the novel Storming Heaven, Denise Giardina gives us an inside look at what really happened to the small town of Annedel, West Virginia. Whether the four characters that tell the story are fictional or based in part on actual events that took place, it hits home considering where we live. The story is based on four different perspectives of four citizens struggling to survive under the reign of a powerful coal company. I am sure anyone from this area has had a family or knows of someone who has worked in the mines. If you sit down and talk to these older people who worked in the mines they all have compelling tales of events that have been handed down from generation to generation.
Natural gas is very dangerous, especially when the health of people is the main problem. The side effects of natural gas, according to Tox Town the article points out “oxygen can be reduced, causing dizziness, fatigue, nausea, headache, and irregular breathing” and even “death”. Pennsylvania is suffering in a tremendous way people are not consuming water like they used to. In fact, the video from Fracking Hell: The Untold Story” have people explaining how their rivers and have yellow colors, and how strong the water smell. They cannot wash dishes,
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
The documentary ‘Gasland” is a telling tale of the terrible consequences of natural gas mining in the US. The filmmaker, Josh Fox, travels around the country visiting different homes that are in very close proximity of natural gas drilling sites after receiving a $100,000 offer from a natural gas company to use his land as a drilling site . The film focuses on how the drilling sites not only leave ugly scars on the land, but also the horrendous health problems people get from drinking the contaminated groundwater.
This is an important topic. It affects the overall health of the population surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, as we eat from it quite often and it can be used as a water source. The chemicals being released into the water are from coal-burning factories and runoff, which can be helped, but it’s almost impractical in this day and age to spend the amount of money required to do so without the technology that can guarantee a fix.
An important part of extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale is that it is not only necessary and desirable, but it is also practical for farmers to implement on their property. This is because drilling is now regulated by law. Therefore, it is ensured to improve and sustain Pennsylvania’s agriculture through legislation requirements. This is due in large part to the establishment of Pennsylvania Act Thirteen, which went into effect in February of 2012.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Pittsburgh became a leader in America’s industrial production. This industrial production dominated Pittsburgh’s economy for over a century. This attracted many foreigners to Pittsburgh which had a demand for unskilled workers. However, Pittsburgh eventually lost its position as one of the world’s largest industrial producers and became a rising city for businesses in the field of information technology. As a result, Pittsburgh shifted from a city of mostly blue-collar workers to a city of mostly white-collar workers.
Mother earth has gone through a lot of changes throughout its four and a half billion-year existence. Earth has seen many different climates and many different species. Because of these changes geologists have broken earths history into different time periods. One such time period was the Pennsylvanian time period. The Pennsylvanian time period is a subdivision of the Carboniferous period. The Pennsylvanian period saw the introduction of many different species that are still present today along with a very different climate and different geographical features than are present today.
Let me tell you what I am doing. I am building the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Horseshoe Curve. I have no time to talk to you because they want a tenth of the curve done today. I get payed only $0.25 an hour every day that's not a lot that goes into somebody's pocket. The challenge that we are trying to conquer is the Allegheny mountains.
Then the documentary tackles Puget Sound. The Duwamish River is the largest hot spot in the nation. In 2001, the Duwamish River was classified as a “Super Fund” site. This is given to a site that will receive federal assistance for clean up. But yet, it may be too late. Puget Sound in contaminated with PCP, lead and mercury. The threat comes from the giant industrial polluters of old and from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.
“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity . . . that’s all there is” (Gaylord). Throughout the recent decades, the wealth of the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent rivers have been affected by a phenomenon called eutrophication. that occurs when there is an excess of a nutrient limited in the water, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments (Eney 2009). Those nutrients are naturally good in the environment since they help the bottom of the food chain, but a lot is not always good, and the Chesapeake Bay has been receiving too much of these nutrients during the last years. This causes an explosion of growth an algae (algae bloom). Since algae are photosynthetic their life after the eutrophication occurs is very short. Many algae die without being eaten by the primary consumers and the one that remains without eating after dying begins to decompose, leaving at the bottom of the water an anoxic zone "dead zone" where there is no oxygen for the organisms that live there to survive.
Today's Rising Gas Prices At some point in everyone’s lives, we are affected by the rising gas prices in today’s economy. Natural gas is not a renewable resource, since there is a fixed amount of it trapped in the Earth. However, many people carry the misconception that there is a very limited amount of natural gas, and that we may use all of it. This isn’t true, though. The gas shortages of the 1970s were prompted by the government’s lack of faith in the industry’s ability to discover and develop new reserves, not by a lack of gas supply.
America is becoming more and more worried about where it will get the resources it needs for energy. Coal is becoming an expensive resource and under close observation due to its effect on our atmosphere with its carbon dioxide emissions. Nuclear power has created concerns since the recent Japanese disaster. We return to looking for a way to have fuel needed to supply us with the energy needs of today, and also the future. Natural gas then presents itself as an option. Natural gas is being celebrated as a solution to sustain us till we can become more dependent on renewable resources, such as wind and solar. The source for all this gas is literally right under our nose. It lies in shale formations underground. One such formation, the largest in America the Marcelus Shale, a huge formation in parts of Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania contains more than $500 billion worth of gas in one area alone.
Perhaps the most infamous American example of a coal mine fire is Centralia, a town in the anthracite region of eastern Pennsylvania. Centralia was like any other coal town until one fateful day in 1962, when a heap of burning trash in a dump that doubled as a mine stripping pit quickly spread to other parts of the mine. After a few months of bureaucratic haggling, the local government finally agreed to drill to suffocate the fire, but it had spread faster than had been anticipated and could not easily be contained. In the next few years, subsequent efforts to quell the fire proved futile while it expanded beyond the confines of the coal mine to other areas underneath people’s residences in the town of Centralia.
Recently, the United States has experienced a boom in natural gas exploration and extraction. This has come about mainly because of the discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale Formation, an area of bedrock that stretches throughout much of the northeastern Appalachians and covers states like Pennsylvania and New York. Thus, the discovery of these reservoirs of natural gas in the region (and in other parts of the U.S.) have led to increased extraction and production of natural gas as an alternative fuel source. Natural gas as a natural resource has several benefits but it also exhibits some drawbacks. LNG (liquefied natural gas) has been an especially hot topic as corporations are looking to save money while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.