Marcellus Shale Gas Industry Fails Elementary Spelling Test
By David Ira Kagan

       Preparing for the upcoming, expected boaters on Pine Creek this spring, the gas industry has placed a warning sign at the Ramsey Village access area in Lycoming County. The sign’s purpose is to alert creek paddlers to the construction a bit over two miles south—construction that extends about half way across Pine Creek for what will later be a water withdrawal site. The pump here will send water up pipes to gas well sites on the east side of Pine Creek.
       Unfortunately, care was not taken with the spellings on the sign. Two of the four words on the warning sign are misspelled. “Area” was printed as “aera,” and “downstream” (which is one word) was incorrectly printed as two words, “down stream.”
       These elementary grade misspellings certainly help convince folks in our AREA of Pennsylvania that they can have faith that the gas industry knows what it’s doing in other AREAS, don’t they?