To all of my fellow Athens County residents:
Please join the caravan and meet at the Wayne National Forest headquarters, this Wednesday, Nov. 16 to Right the Wayne.
We will deliver hundreds of letters and kindly call on the Wayne to do its part to cancel the planned Dec. 7 sale of oil and gas leases on Wayne land along the Hocking River.
The sales threaten the aquifer and drinking water supplies of Athens, Nelsonville, LeAx and Burr Oak, and therefore threaten our economy, so dependent on tourism and our vibrant small businesses. These will be severely harmed by the industrial activities, air pollution and contaminated water of deep shale drilling, causing a public health crisis.
In giving consent for this sale to proceed in May 2011, the Forest Service acted illegally, because it did not seek public input on the economic, social and environmental impacts of its activities, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. We call on Wayne to be a better neighbor and to act immediately to get these parcels withdrawn from the sale.
We will carpool/caravan from the Athens Farmers Market at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday. You may also join us at Wayne Headquarters on Route 33 between Athens and Nelsonville at 1:45 p.m. (Wear patriotic colors or eco-patriot green.)
Meanwhile, please write the Wayne and the Bureau of Land Management, which is administering the sale. A sample letter with addresses is available at nofrackseohio.com. Please also send your letter to RightTheWayne@gmail.com so we can keep a tally of letters sent.
Thank you. We look forward to gathering on Wednesday!
Mary Nally resides in Athens.
