Central Pennsylvania Woods and Waters

We went swimming to my favorite swimming hole on this day: which is to say we went to Whipple Dam State Park, about a 20-minute drive from where we live.

The water was refreshing and it was a perfect summer morning. We swam a while, and I took some pictures. It's a great spot for dragonflies and damselflies. And the surfaces of the lake were lovely for reflections. I walked down below the spillway to the little bridge and took some pictures - so much green, so much fresh, clean water. We take it all for granted . . .

For the past several years, there has been a controversy in our state about a method of natural gas and oil removal called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which is the process of forcing a mixture of water and chemicals down into the ground for the purpose of extraction.

Land all around our state is now being used for fracking, in hopes of extracting valuable natural gas and oil from the Marcellus shale deposits that lie beneath some parts of our state. However, the results of fracking have included contaminated ground waters and wells. It turns out that our fresh water, so long taken for granted, is in danger.

Our erstwhile governor (no, I'm no fan; I voted for the other guy) has accepted money from the fracking industry, and is in favor of this practice. Powerful interests are pushing this agenda forward, with environmental groups pushing back, but so far being unable to halt the practice. As a lover of the outdoors and especially cool, clean, fresh water, I am appalled by this situation but unsure of what to do to help stop it.

Here are a few links to more information:
Wikipedia: hydraulic fracturing (or fracking)
Pennsylvania: map of Marcellus wells

The soundtrack: The Who, from the Isle of Wight in 1970, with Water.