I've wondered a time or two what would happen up in Washington if natural gas producing shale were discovered in the Puget Sound zone. Washington does not have a lot of mining or drilling action going on, unlike Texas, where Texans are used to holes randomly getting poked in the ground.Well, early Friday morning I think I got my answer to what would happen if Chesapeake Energy put up drilling towers and started making a lot of noise, along with environmental damage within earshot of residential neighborhoods or near parks in Washington.
For almost a decade environmental groups have been fighting a radio station's plan to build a couple new transmission towers in Snohomish, where there were already 2 controversial towers. Snohomish is a town northeast of Seattle about 25 miles. The objections to the new towers ranged from them impeding on a trumpeter swan habitat to possible human health hazards.
The existing towers had generated complaints of interference with telephones and intercoms.
Well, the existing towers are no more. Around 3:30 a.m. a 911 call came in telling the operator that someone seemed to be attacking the towers with a bulldozer. By the time police arrived the towers were on the ground. A banner bearing the initials of the ELF were found at the scene.
ELF is the Earth Liberation Front. An ELF spokesman said the towers were taken down because of health and environmental concerns, with ELF press spokesman Jason Crawford saying, "We have to weigh our priorities, and the local ecosystem in Everett, along with the local residents, do not need additional sports news radio station towers that come at the expense of reduced property values and harmful radio waves."
The ELF's Web site has pictures of the toppled towers, along with an article. I'll copy the headline and article below...
Earth Liberation Front Topples Two Radio Station Towers in Snohomish County, WA
Everett, WA: Two radio station towers were torn down early Friday by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in the Lord's Hills valley in Snohomish County, WA. The towers, owned by station KRKO, have been a source of controversy for years. A sign left at the scene claimed responsibility by the ELF.
"Due to the health and environmental risks associated with radio waves emitted from the towers, we applaud this act by the ELF," stated Jason Crawford, a spokesperson for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office. "When all legal channels of opposition have been exhausted, concerned citizens have to take action into their own hands to protect life and the planet."
For the past eight years, opponents have waged a legal battle against the towers, arguing that AM radio waves cause adverse health affects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines.
Last year, the first four towers were erected by KRKO after numerous hearings and appeals. KRKO plans to build two more towers to boost the station's broadcasting power.
I wonder if Texas has an ELF branch? I doubt it. I wonder what the ELF would have done about the Chesapeake Energy drilling operation on the west side of the Tandy Hills? Or what they'd do about the Carter Avenue pipeline. Or the ring of gas terror surrounding Gateway Park?
