SOUTHERN ILLINOIS—The following is a statement by Tabitha Tripp, a leader of Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment. She and 22 others from Southern Illinois delivered hand-written comments to the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources, whose members were responsible for writing the rules based on the supposed “tough” regulatory bill passed by the state legislature June 17, 2013 on horizontal hydraulic fracturing, scheduled to begin in Illinois this year. Over 20,000 comments were submitted by members of organizations opposed to “fracking.” One of the attendees was LeLe, a ten-year-old battling cancer.
“I live in rural southern Illinois on a 5th generation family farm. The road I live on has 17 private wells, including my own, supplying each of my neighbors with drinking water. One fracking induced earthquake could jeopardize my well. The fight to protect water and our communities begins here with us, the locals. Decades ago, activist and environmentalist Don West said, “It’s time to realize, no one from the outside is ever going to save us, unless we make our own stand.”
Citizens from southern Illinois stand here today to deliver comments and petitions to state officials demanding protection and accountability. We are making a stand. We have provided substantive comments, research papers, documentation and science regarding draft rules that lack integrity and wreak of negligence, written by officials whose sole purpose was to mirror a law intended to protect citizens and the environments from harm.
These inadequate rules will leave nothing but legacies of disasters to those who voted on this irresponsible law and abandon Illinois tax payers who will indeed foot the bill for public health issues like cancer and leukemia.
Citizens and children like LeLe will pay the price from pollution and radiation left behind by the oil and gas industry.
The incompetency shown in the haphazard writing of the draft rules further validates our concerns that Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources does not have the interest of the public, nor the environment of Illinois, at heart.
On behalf of so many people and organizations in southern Illinois, we demand:
Not one permit be issued. A ban is the only, ONLY way to protect Illinois and our environment. The only answer here is a ban.”
