PAGE 12 THE DALLAS POST Sunday, April 25, 2010 Residents voice concerns about gas drilling EnCana is attempting to establish a baseline for water quality Encana Gas and Oil spokeswoman says company would be required by the state to correct problems. By JEN MARCKIN jmarckini@timesleader.com Stefanie Spezzia and her hus- band, Howard, live just outside of a one-mile radius of an explo- ratory drilling well site in the Back Mountain. The Spezzias built their Sha- dy Lane home nearly four years ago, but now they worry about the possibility of water contam- ination due to drilling into the Marcellus Shale for natural gas. It was one of many concerns talked about at a Tuesday eve- ning meeting for neighbors within the proposed “Salansky” gas well site area, as it is called by the company. “We don’t have the money to put a new well up,” said Stefanie Spezzia. “If the water is contam- inated and they can’t fix it, we have nowhere to go.” EnCana Oil and Gas Inc. which operates from its head- and quantity conditions by requesting property owners participa- te in a water sampling assessment, which will be collected by Rettew Associates, a third-party environmental-testing firm based in Lancaster. Letters were mailed April 8 to landowners located within a mile radius of the well covering Lake and Lehman Townships, and Harveys Lake Borough. quarters in Denver, Colo., has about 8,700 gas wells across the United States. This is the first time the gas company is drilling into the Marcellus, according to Wendy Wiedenbeck, spokeswo- man for the eight-year-old natu- ral gas company. “How safe are we from you polluting our water on your first endeavor?” asked one of the esti- mated 130 in attendance. EnCana is attempting to es- tablish a baseline for water qual- ity and quantity conditions by requesting property owners par- ticipate in a water sampling as- sessment, which will be collect- ed by Rettew Associates, a third- party environmental-testing firm based in Lancaster. Letters were mailed April 8 to landowners located within a mile radius of the well covering Lake and Lehman Townships, and Harveys Lake Borough. Wiedenbeck said the gas com- pany would be required by the state to correct water contami- nation problems. “We will take every safeguard to not impact your water,” she said to concerned residents. Wiedenbeck said the compa- ny is committed to responsible development and protecting the water by baseline water testing. g§ But, residents such as the® Spezzias and homeowner Libby Davis, who resides with family at their Meeker Outlet Road property just within the well drilling radius, remain skepti- cal. Davis, of Lake Township, has not signed an access agreement that would allow the collection of water samples. Township officials voted unanimously on April 13 to al- low the company to drill near Peaceful Valley Road. WORLD Continued from Page 1 Detroit Free Press where she hired the entire design team before be- ing promoted to design director of the newspaper. While in that position, she was asked to redesign the Aberdeen American News in South Dakota. “I didn’t know at the time that was a test,” she said. Directly after she completed that task, Withey took a six-month leave of absence to teach journal- ism and design at the University of Navarra in Spain. “I thought I'll see if I like teach- ing and I'll also get the experience of living in another country,” she said. The day Withey was to return to the U.S. in 1995, she received a call from the vice president of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, asking her to be the design con- sultant for the company. She agreed. In her new position, Withey completely redesigned 10 to 12 newspapers of various sizes across the country. Part of her job was to make each paper look and feel like its own community. “I did the design but always partnered with someone at the newspaper...it didn’t belong to me; it was theirs,” she said. “One of the ones that I enjoyed the most was the Philadelphia Daily News. I just liked the format and it was the underdog.” Withey also enjoyed redesign- ing the San Luis Obispo Tribune because it was located in a beauti- ful area of southern California, she | said. “It was a challenge because it ' was seen as the city paper but it covered the central coast,” she said of the California newspaper. While serving as president of ' the Society of News Design, With- ' ey met her husband, Juan Antonio Giner, at a conference. Giner, who is from Spain, was the president of the Society of European Design at the time. Always wanting to visit the na- tive country of her father, John OF iver Withey, who was born in Wales and immigrated to the U.S. at age 2, Withey spent her honey- moon in Wales. While there, she and her hus- band spotted a home for sale in St. David's, Pembrokeshire, and the owners asked them to come for a drink at sunset. After seeing the sunset over St. Peter’s Cathedral, the newlyweds bought the house. Withey was at a conference in Washington, D.C. in 2003 when she was offered a job by Virginian- Pilot Editor Denis Finley who asked her to become managing ed- itor for visuals and joint venture publications at the newspaper in “I think the thing that's most important to me is just how all creative processes are very collective. A cre- ative process is very collective and newspa- pers always have been and, hopefully, will always be a place where people of all disciplines can come together and shine as a unit.” Deborah Withey Former BMT resident now living in Wales Norfolk, Va. “He kept after me and, se- cretly, I thought this was some- thing I should do,” she said. Thinking the job would be a good opportunity because she wanted to do creative writing for a newspaper and didn’t want to leave the industry with- out one more experience, Withey took the job in 2004 and moved with her husband and their son, Tam, now age 9, to Virginia. She left the position in 2009 to return with her family to their home in Wales. That year, she also illustrated “Children of Valor,” a book created by the US. Army for young readers which celebrates the lives and children of fallen American ser- vice men and women. For her illustrations and contributions to the Valor project, she has been awarded the Civilian Ser- vice Medal of Excellence from the Army. “It was really an honor be- cause the armed forces decided they needed to explain the fu- neral process to children be- cause so many people were dy- ing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Withey said. Withey’s latest project is founding Cheese + Pickles Stu- dio in St. Davids, a place where she creates art and a place that is home to community art and adult art education. She is currently working on Gyotaku, the ancient art of Ja- panese fish printing, and paint- ing sea stones. “I think the thing that’s most important to me is just how all creative processes are very col- lective,” Withey said. “A cre- ative process is very collective and newspapers always have been and, hopefully, will al- ways be a place where people of all disciplines can come togeth- er and shine as a unit.” GEORGE Continued from Page 1 principal, nurse and even janito- rial duties at times. In one in- stance, she witnessed a boy walk into the school with a bone pro- truding from his arm. “He was on the playground when he broke his arm and he came into the school very uncon- cerned,” she said. George placed the boy’s arm in a splint and put a book under- neath it for support. She called the ambulance and rode to the hospital with the boy. “When I think to years back, I sat on the nursing bed many times, rubbing arms and legs and telling them not to worry; Mommy will be coming,” Ge- orge said. George has been married to her husband, William, for 52 years. The couple has two grown children, Marcia Walsh, of Sweet Valley; and William George, of Turbot- ville, as well as five grandchil- dren. After her retirement, she plans to travel, enjoy her home, work in her yard and bake. “I would have retired five, six years ago, but after I got a principal — he’s just been a de- light — and a nurse, I decided to stay on,” George said. “I just figured it’s time to go, time to do what I want to do with my husband.” BIRTHDAY Continued from Page 1 As the disease progressed, she was no longer able to perform even simple tasks such as un- loading the dishwasher because it would leave her out of breath. “It was very hard on our fam- ily,” said Pratt, speaking of her husband, Carl, and their 10-year- old daughter, Nicole. “I missed out on being a mom because I was so limited on what I could do. And my daughter, she was scared at times because she would see me struggling. But I also think it made her very com- passionate.” With her lung capacity at only 25 percent, Pratt was told by doc- tors at Hershey there was noth- ing more they could do and re- ferred her to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was placed on a lung trans- plant list on April 9, 2009 and told to be available at all times. Just nine days later, she received the life-changing news that a set of lungs had become available to her. For the first six weeks follow- ing her release from the hospital, Pratt commuted to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania three times a week for rehabilita- tion. Her mother, Pat Zikor, of Trucksville, stayed at her daugh- ter’s house during that time to help Carl with chores and caring for Nicole. Pratt began rehabilitation at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Reading, a program she contin- ues to adhere to three times a week. She can now go for walks with her daughter, do the grocery shopping and unload the dish- washer once again. Aside from a five-day stay in the hospital last August due to a virus, she has had a smooth recovery. On March 1 of this year, Pratt returned to work part-time as an administrative assistant at Al- bright College where she worked until the day before her surgery. She hopes to return full-time by June 1. Last Sunday’s party was Zi- kor’s idea as a way to thank ev- eryone, some whom Pratt doesn’t even know, who have been praying for her and sending her words of encouragement. Zikor admitted it was difficult when she learned her daughter was sick, especially because her late husband, Joseph, was also ill at the time. Zikor found support from friends in her 8:15 a.m. exer- cise class at Misericordia Univer- sity. One friend, Mae Flicata, of Dallas, was particularly helpful because her daughter, Mary, who lives in California, received a kidney transplant. “Mother to mother, it was real- ly good,” Zikor said. “There’s a lot of positive that came out of this. You realize friends are won- derful.” Friends from St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown prayed for Pratt whose name was also on the prayer list at Trucksville United Methodist Church, Zikor said. Zikor was not an organ donor until after Pratt’s transplant. “Most of my friends (and I), when we renewed our licenses, even though we are not young, we said we would be organ do- nors,” she said. “I guess you don’t think about it until it’s at your back door and you realize how wonderful it is when someone makes this donation.” CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Michelle (Zikor) Toennes, right, cuts a cake at the party while her sister, Margie Pratt, looks on. Pratt has a request for people who are able to donate organs. “If you could be a donor, seri- ously think about it because I've seen what it did for me and, as | went through that rehab pro- gram, I saw a lot of individuals who were getting another shot,” she said. “If you're not a donor, if you could think of why you're not and change your mind because it’s a wonderful thing to do.” You can be an organ donor ~ With April marking Na- tional Donate Life Month, PennDOT reminds driver’s license and identification card holders they can help another person live a fuller and longer life by registering online as an organ donor. It only takes 90 seconds or less to add the organ donor designation to a driver’s li- cense or identification card by visiting www.dmuv.state- .pa.us and selecting the On- line Services link where the option to add the organ do- nor designation is found un- der Driver’s License/Photo ID Services. Once the designation is added, individuals will re- ceive a designation card that they carry with them to af- firm organ donor status until they renew their driver’s li- cense or identification card. Currently, nearly 45 per- cent of driver’s license and identification card holders are registered organ donors — that’s more than 4.2 mil- lion Pennsylvanians. Nearly 3,700 Pennsylva- nians have used the online registration service since it began in 2006. More than 7,100 Pennsylvanians cur- rently await organ trans- plants. Driver’s license and identi- fication card holders, as well as registered vehicle owners, can also support organ dona- tion programs by donating $1 to the Robert P. Casey Memo- rial Organ and Tissue -Dona- tion Awareness Trust Fund at the time of application and/ or renewal. Proceeds from the fund are used to educate and promote awareness of the organ donor program through non-profit organizations like the Center for Organ Recovery and Edu- cation (CORE) and the Gift of Life (GOL) Donor Pro- gram. Pennsylvanians have gen- erously donated more than $8.2 million to the fund since 1995. For more information about organ and tissue dona- tion in Pennsylvania, visit www.donatelife-pa.org. SIGNAL Continued from Page 3 will be replaced on Hickory Road, Colonial Drive, Sterling Avenue and Franklin Street. Carr said the project will be paid for with Federal Emer- gency Management Agency and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency alter- nate project funding received by the borough from the June 2006 flood. Paving list approved ® The summer paving list was approved to include East Cen- ter Hill Road from Route 415 to Lake Street and Spring Street from Machell Avenue to Lehman Avenue, contin- gent upon approval from PennDOT for utilization of lig- uid fuels funds. Cleaning payments authorized Approval was granted to au- thorize a monthly cleaning service fee of $150 to Julie Markle for providing weekly cleaning services to the bor- ough municipal building. Mayor's announcements Mayor Tim Carroll remind- ed residents there is no burn- ing allowed and that yard waste pickup will not begin until May 10. Spring cleanup Regulations were ' passed governing the 2010 spring cleanup to be held Monday, May 3 through Saturday, May 8 at the municipal building. Hours of operation for the cleanup are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Roast beef dinner set The Northmoreland Town- ship Volunteer Fire Depart- ment on Lower Demunds Road, Centermoreland, will hold its monthly roast beef dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28, with eat- in or take-out dinner. Cost is $7 for adults and $4 for children 12 years of age and under. Tickets are available from any fire department member or at the door. Picnic meeting slated A meeting to plan the Lu- zerne High School Picnic will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27, at The Grille in the Luzerne Shopping Center. PUZILE ANSWERS — King Crossword — Answers Solution time: 21 mins. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers