Concrete cracks
Mr. D’Amico was probably correct in the “facts” that he chose to contest regarding natural gas use and recovery. The presentation by the League of Women Voters lacked the prestige of a polished contender. It was indeed one sided. The Marcellus Shale finding is an opportunity to live on this planet perhaps another century even if we ignore our history here. But some of us can remember the gift of coal to this region and the fact that it was mined profitably for a century before we learned to provide safety retreats for trapped miners which first saved lives … in Chile. Mr. D’Amico apparently is satisfied to meet the legal requirements for obtaining a profit and the LWV is not. If you read a second newspaper in Pittsburgh this week, you may find that shale mining adds an interesting collection chemicals to the rivers and environment in the waste water discharged to and from public water treatment facilities. Nevertheless, I agree that the gas from shale was given to us to live on Earth.
The advertising (facts) that really irks me is the “Multiple Barrier”. Yes, two-steel pipe with concrete around it-are multiple.
But in the nuclear business we were always suspicious of concrete because it has cracks. Mr. D’Amico is entitled to a profit on the sale of shale gas, but not a profit earned the way that the PA Coal Barons “earned” theirs.
D.F. Rinald
Mt. Lebanon