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Hits and Misses

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Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter

This well in Hillman State Park is the 100th orphaned or abandoned well to be plugged in Pennsylvania this year, thanks in part to increased federal funding. There are an estimated 350,000 orphaned or abandoned wells in the state, which leak toxic chemicals into the air and local water supplies, pose a safety hazard and decrease property values.

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Anica Donnan Rawnsley

HIT: Oil was first struck in the United States in Titusville in 1859, and, in the century that followed, gas and oil production in Pennsylvania was largely unregulated. As a result, scores of abandoned wells dot the commonwealth’s landscape. It’s estimated there could be as many as 350,000, but only a relative handful have been discovered. For years, the state has not had the resources to find and plug the wells, but the administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro has made a priority of getting this done. On Wednesday, the governor came to Hillman State Park outside Burgettstown to celebrate the plugging of the 100th abandoned well in Pennsylvania, and promised that many more would follow thanks to federal funding. The infusion of resources has led to the hiring of a dozen additional staff with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection who are dealing exclusively with abandoned wells in Western Pennsylvania. The abandoned wells aren’t harmless relics – they are hazardous to the health of residents who live near them, and account for 8% of Pennsylvania’s methane emissions. Shapiro said, “It’s good for public health. Plugging wells is good for outdoor recreation and plugging wells is good for our local economy.”

HIT: Annica Donnan Rawnsley made many contributions to this region in her 94 years, including a stint as a director of the American Cancer Society and president of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Easter Seals Society. She was also the first female trustee of Washington & Jefferson College, from which she received an honorary degree. She died in August, but Rawnsley will continue to make an impact for decades to come as a result of a $50 million gift she made to the college. It will be used to provide scholarships for Washington County students based on need. John C. Knapp, the president of W&J, said the bequest will allow the college to invest in the community, and was part of Rawnsley’s “bold vision to make it possible for future generations to afford and benefit from a W&J education.” Indeed, the gift may have been to W&J, but it will benefit everyone in this region.

MISS: The Serpent’s Key Shoppe and Sanctuary in Hanover, Pa., recently received an unexpected boost in visibility as a result of a visit by the borough’s police chief. After proprietor Beck Lawrence harmlessly promoted her store’s services and wares in a local newsletter, the borough’s police chief made what Lawrence described as an intimidating and unannounced visit. She was informed that fortune telling is illegal in Pennsylvania, and that if any complaints came in, he and his department would have to investigate. The police chief, Chad Martin, is correct – fortune telling is officially illegal in the commonwealth, but it’s one of those archaic, rarely enforced laws like the prohibition on catching a fish with your bare hands. Lawrence also pointed out to multiple media outlets that signs are up in the store noting that any readings are “for entertainment purposes only” and the store deals in benign goods like crystals and candles. The Hanover police chief would have been wise to just leave Lawrence alone, and lawmakers would be even wiser if they got this outdated law off the books.

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