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Responsible Drilling Alliance Newsletter
NEIGHBORHOODS FIGHT BACK, HANDS ACROSS RIVERDALE
May 31 ,2012
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Dear RDA Members and Friends,
The deadline for construction of the water withdrawal station on the site of the Riverdale Mobile Home Park just east of Jersey Shore is drawing near with no sign of a fair and decent offer to the remaining residents of the park from the park's new owners, Aqua America Corporation.
Ten families remain trapped, as Aqua's offer of $2,500 per home to help cover actual moving costs in the $6,000 - $8,000 range is simply inadequate for them. So too is moving from a location with a $200 monthly rental fee, entering a rental housing market where rates have skyrocketed due to the influx of out-of-state gas workers. The remaining families see little choice left but to try and stay put.
RDA sees this situation as one of common decency. In Williamsport alone there have been over 400 cases of eminent domain power exercised against people's properties in recent years. Eminent domain is a huge issue in the area. Some property owners go to great lengths to help residents find new homes, other do not. Aqua American has only paid lip service to the realities facing the Riverdale families, with an offer of moving assistance that proved insincere and a monetary figure that is not justifiable.
If you take the time to meet the remaining residents of Riverdale you will find a community of hard working people trying to raise families on a modest income, along with some elderly, ill and disabled folks who are doing the best they can.
Those of us who are daily witness to wildly burgeoning gas development expect more than just legal justifications, phony help and inadequate monetary offers for displaced residents as the industry comes here to conduct their business of transporting a commonwealth resource they obtain for only a nominal charge.
If you would like to show your support for the families of Riverdale and help send a message to Aqua America, please join Rev. Leah Schade, Pastor, United in Christ Lutheran Church of West Milton, in a prayer vigil open to the public to be held TONIGHT at 6:00pm at the park. Below is Reverend Schade's announcement.
Prayer Vigil, Mourning the Loss of Riverdale
Riverdale Mobile Home Park Thursday, May 31, 2012, 6:00 p.m.
The Rev. Leah D. Schade presiding
The suffering of Riverdale Mobile Home Park residents in Jersey Shore, PA, has been met with indifference by Aqua America, the company partnered with Penn Virginia Resources (PVR) that plans to build a three million gallon per day water withdrawal site at the property to service natural gas drilling beginning June 1st. As a result, a refugee crisis in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, is about to worsen and only a movement of the residents and their neighbors can stop it.
Thus we hold this prayer vigil to mark the destruction of the Riverdale Community by Aqua America, lament the loss of a thriving neighborhood, comfort those who have lost their homes and relationships with good neighbors, and call for justice for the people of Riverdale.
Hands Across Riverdale
Jersey Shore, PA
WHAT: A vigil commemorating Riverdale Mobile Home Park and showing support for residents who are about to be evicted from their homes by Aqua America.
WHEN: Thursday, May 31, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm & Friday 6:30 am - 5:00 pm
WHERE: Riverdale Mobile Home Park, 7 Riverdale Lane, Jersey Shore, PA 17740
For more information and video, please visit:
www.saveriverdale.com
Caketown Crime Watch Group Showing Gasland
Residents of the Caketown section of Sunbury are attempting to raise awareness of issues arising from well field service and logistics operations occurring and planned in their neighborhood. They are having a free showing of the documentary Gasland at the Shikellamy High School Auditorium on Tuesday, June 5th. Doors open at 6 and the movie starts at 6:30. Afterwards a Q and A with the audience will take place.
If you are in the area, come out and see a documentary that shook the world and gain an understanding of the Caketown situation and the impact gas related operations can have even in areas far removed from shale-gas extraction.
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