Letter to the Editor: 'A Detailed Look into the Peters Township Anti-Drilling Referendum'

What no one is telling you is the slick method that this group has been trying to sell this to the public. And, of course, the “main stream media” pushes their slant since they have the support from the same left wing organizations, like the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).

No one disagrees that we want to be able to breathe clean air and drink clean water. So, let us look at the entire document and try to figure out what it really means. Let’s look at it paragraph by paragraph and see just what the rest of this document is really saying:

a. “Right to Water. All residents, natural communities and ecosystems in Peters Township possess a fundamental and inalienable right to sustainably access, use, consume, and preserve water drawn from natural water cycles that provide water necessary to sustain life within the Township.” 

Where in the world does an “ecosystem” possess a “fundamental and inalienable right”? What in the world does that mean? Does this mean if someone cuts their grass that the township will have to fine them because they violated the “rights” of the ecosystem? (I think I could support this if it means I will have more time to watch football instead of yard work). 

b. “Right to Clean Air. All residents, natural communities and ecosystems in Peters Township possess a fundamental and inalienable right to breathe air untainted by toxins, carcinogens, particulates and other substances known to cause harm to health.” 

I am realizing that this means that no vehicles will be allowed to be driven in this community since each vehicle (including electric vehicles, since they pollute the air in the making of electricity thereby ruining the “ecosystem”) will not be allowed to operate within the township boundary. If you do not believe that toxins are exhausted from vehicles, fill up the tank and drive into the garage. 

c. "Right to Peaceful Enjoyment of Home. Residents of Peters Township possess a fundamental and inalienable right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes, free from interference, intrusion, nuisances or impediments to access and occupation."

I have read about this in Germany in the era of WWII, luckily, we live in America and those rights are quarantined to us by the U.S. and PA Constitutions (but wait, according to this document, we are not going to be covered by those pesky documents (see “g” below)). 

d. "Rights of Natural Communities. Natural communities and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish within Peters Township. Residents of the Township shall possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of those natural communities and ecosystems."

I suppose that this means that if everyone is watching out for the streams and waterway and the fish (DO NOT get caught fishing at Canonsburg Dam or at the park at the lake) that there is no need for the Fish and Game Commission, PA Department of Environment and the other departments that take care of these things now (a potential time savings for those folks, seeing that PT is going to be tasked for taking care of all of this but not a tax savings for the township residence since the “outside world” is not so enlightened and we will still be paying our taxes to have them watched). 

e. "Right to a Sustainable Energy Future. All residents in Peters Township possess a right to a sustainable energy future, which includes, but is not limited to, the development, production, and use of energy from renewable fuel sources." 

I finally get my windmill on my one-third of an acre lot. Ted Kennedy did not like having windmills near his house and fought against it for years (silly socialist, always supports these kinds of things until they come home to roost). But wait, I will violate the bird’s rights if they can’t fly through the air without getting plummeted by my loud and twirling windmill. So, I will violate a., b., c., d. so far. 

f. "Right to Self-Government. All residents of Peters Township possess the fundamental and inalienable right to a form of governance where they live which recognizes that all power is inherent in the people, that all free governments are founded on the people’s authority and consent, and that corporate entities and their directors and managers shall not enjoy special privileges or powers under the law which make community majorities subordinate to them."

And I thought that is what the Bill of Rights were all about. If I was a Social Studies teacher…Wait, I am a Social Studies teacher and I did read about the fact that this is a Republic and not only the Bill of Rights and the Constitutions (U.S. and PA) were written to protect the citizens of the country, commonwealth and the township. Actually, in the '70s, the Home Rule Charter was voted on by the residents of Peters Township and became the document which a majority of people voted to accept so there is self government and the people did speak. 

g. "People as Sovereign. Peters Township shall be the governing authority responsible to, and governed by, the residents of the Township. Use of the “Township of Peters” municipal corporation by the sovereign people of the Township to make law shall not be construed to limit or surrender the sovereign authority or immunities of the people to a municipal corporation that is subordinate to them in all respects at all times. The people at all times enjoy and retain an inalienable and indefeasible right to self-governance in the community where they reside."

While in this context if they are saying that we do not have to follow commonwealth’s speeding laws it might peak my interest, but what they are saying is that any township rules that have been placed for the parks, building codes (as amended) and other rules established by the up-to now, local government mean nothing. Sports fans will have to figure out how to pay for the field improvements because the township is going to be defending themselves 24/7, so all monies will be spent for that purpose and to hell with your ideas of having lights, turf and maintenance on those areas. 

h. "Rights as Self-Executing. All rights delineated and secured by this Charter shall be self-executing and these rights shall be enforceable against corporations and governmental entities."

What this means, for those that signed it thinking that it was only to ban drilling is that if this is voted in, the next morning all township rules and ordinances that are in place mean NOTHING. This will take effect at midnight on the 8th of November (so chaos is coming to our locality as soon as the day after the election). Remembering that if this is voted upon, all legal actions and monies spent to throw this out by appeals courts will be at the expense of the taxpayers of Peters Township (see section “i. 7.” below). I wonder if those that signed to get this on the ballot will be enjoined in a class action suit for violating the rights of landowners? After all, their names and addresses are available in the county elections office. 

"i. Securing and Protecting Rights. To further secure and protect the rights enumerated by the Bill of Rights:

1. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to engage in the extraction of natural gas within Peters Township, with the exception of gas wells installed and operating at the time of enactment of this Charter provision, provided that the extraction of gas from those existing wells does not involve any practice or process not previously used for the extraction of gas from those wells. 

2. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation to use a corporation, to deposit, store or transport waste water, “produced” water, “frack” water, brine or other materials, chemicals or by-products from unconventional development of natural gas from shale formations, within, upon or through the land, air or waters of Peters Township.

3. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation to use a corporation, to engage in the creation of fossil fuel, nuclear or other non-sustainable energy production and delivery infrastructures, such as pipelines, processing facilities, compressors, or storage and transportation facilities of any sort that would violate the right to a sustainable energy future for Peters Township.

4. Corporations in violation of the prohibition against natural gas extraction, or seeking to engage in natural gas extraction shall not have the rights of “persons” afforded by the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions, nor shall those corporations be afforded the protections of the commerce or contracts clauses within the United States Constitution or corresponding sections of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

5. Corporations engaged in the extraction of natural gas shall not possess the authority or power to enforce State or federal preemptive law against the people of Peters Township, or to challenge or overturn municipal ordinances or Charter provisions adopted by the Peters Township Council.

6. No permit, license, privilege or charter issued by any State or federal agency, Commission or Board to any person or any corporation operating under a State charter, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation operating under a State charter, which would violate the prohibitions of this Charter provision or deprive any Township resident(s), natural community, or ecosystem of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by this Charter, the Pennsylvania Constitution, the United States Constitution, or other laws, shall be deemed valid within Peters Township.

7. The provisions of this section are severable. If any court of competent jurisdiction decides that any sub-section, clause, sentence, part, or provision of this section is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect, impair, or invalidate any of the remaining sub-sections, clauses, sentences, parts, or provisions of this Bill of Rights and its prohibitions. The People of Peters Township hereby declare that in the event of such a decision, and the determination that the court’s ruling is legitimate, they would have enacted this amendment even without the sub-section, clause, sentence, part, or provision that the court decides is illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional. All inconsistent provisions of prior Ordinances and zoning Ordinances adopted at any time by Peters Township are hereby held in abeyance, but shall take immediate effect in the event this Bill of Rights and its protective prohibitions are overturned."

This is the actual “Ban the Drilling” section that many folks thought this was all this was about. As you will see it is not only against drilling for minerals in Peters Township, but it actually supports the violation of the rights of the property owners to “have the quiet enjoyment” that they referred to in the paragraphs above except that they want their rights to supersede the property owners rights when it comes to what they can do with the “Bundle of Rights” they acquired when they purchased the land.

Not only will we be violating the property owner’s rights, but we will also be violation the U.S. Constitution in many areas. The one that will be pointed out will be in the area of the “Commerce Clause,” which allows only that the federal government is to regulate interstate commerce. And, if I am not mistaken, most, if not all of these lines, head into other states which automatically fall into this category.

As most realize at this time some folks residing within the township have already signed leases for their minerals and if this goes through, the township will be required to defend all claims from those property owners being deprived of their individual property rights.

While this may seem like nothing at face value, what it could mean to the taxpayers of Peters is a monstrous tax increase (20-30 mills to start, which would take a home that has a current assessment of $60,000 “township tax” from the $700 range into the $2,000.00 range almost overnight) to pay for the legal bills, payouts and attorneys needed to defend, long term—for not just their initial costs of losing the leases, but the long-term payments that could be earned which could mean that settlements could be in the hundreds of millions. 

Speaking of costs, I have not even mentioned the cost to the drillers who have mentioned that the potential earnings from drilling in our neighboring communities could be in the 1.8 billion range.

The tax increases for fighting off the repercussions of this referendum will lower the quality of life in Peters since there will be limited funds to maintain roads, parks, to support police and fire response elements.

The tax increase alone will make Peters an undesirable location (for all of us that moved out of Allegheny Counties tax system will probably be looking to head back there for their “lower taxes” in the near future).

I started out saying that we all want clean air, enjoyment within our community and a comfortable place to live and raise our children. This, as broken down above, I believe, demonstrates that this is not only a bad referendum, but also a potential money pit which none of us will ever be able to see the bottom of for years to come.

For those that state that “outsiders" should not dictate what we do locally is something I can agree upon totally. But that means that both sides of this issue, which means the left wing organizations (CELDF) that have funded, wrote and pushed this onto our community, should be left outside of Peters Township as well.

And, I would point out that the recent residential “boom” to our community happens to be due to the many new folks that have moved here to support the extraction organizations, and who are paying taxes, buying in our stores, eating at the local restaurants and providing diversity into this township.

With everything explained above, I would state that a “NO” vote on this upcoming referendum is in the best interests of our township.

-Peters resident Bill Merrell