The Center for Coalfield Justice partnered with Fractracker and The Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project to hold a public meeting in Canonsburg on the evening of Thursday, September 12th at The Canonsburg Middle School. The event, “What to Know When Fracking Is Your Neighbor” aimed to inform residents of the work our organizations are doing around impacts of fracking in our communities, and how they can get involved. The event ran for two hours from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM. During the first hour, folks learned about fracking and their various health impacts from presentations by Fractracker’s Erica Jackson and EHP’s Sarah Rankin. In addition, Heaven Sensky and Veronica Coptis from CCJ spoke on behalf of the power of organizing and gave attendees a pathway to engaging with a campaign to hold government and industry accountable in our fight for transparency of the impacts on our communities from the oil and gas industry.
The second half of the event was led by residents, who submitted questions anonymously ahead of the event, during the event, and via an open mic opportunity. The panel answered from folks around a plethora of issues including the impact of EPA rollbacks on methane emissions, how to keep moving on accountability measures, and what we can do as a community to fight the feelings of powerlessness. Nearly 80 people attended.
CCJ will be planning organizing trainings for concerned residents to attend and learn how we are building individuals power around these issues, and what we can do next. In addition, we hope to take this panel structure to other affected communities not only in Washington County, but Greene County, and with partners in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties.
Watch the livestream here:
In addition, you may want to check out this corresponding media coverage.
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/09/12/community-meeting-washington-fracking/
For more information about the event, fracking, the petrochemical buildout or the organizing happening right now around the health impacts of the oil and gas industry, you can contact Heaven Sensky at heaven@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org or 724-229-3550 Ext. 103.
