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Wednesday, March 05, 2003 Page: 7A
OPINION
AFTER MORE than a century of coal mining, assorted development and land
speculation, there are plenty of scars on the land in Northeastern
Pennsylvania and too few special places.
But those places do exist. They’re worth preserving and worth fighting for.
The effort to defend the unique Moosic Mountain Barrens might not amass a well
of support from people in Luzerne County and the Wyoming Valley, but it
should. In addition to being upstream, some of the threatened property is
owned by the Theta Land Corp., the division of Pennsylvania Enterprises sold
in early 2000 by Southern Union to an unnamed buyer. Theta owns lots of
sensitive watershed land in Luzerne County and has been selling it for a
substantial profit.
For those reasons alone, the fight for the Moosic barrens is our fight.
The threat is a 7-mile sewer line connecting about 1,000 mostly rural
residences in eastern Lackawanna County to treatment and outflow into the
Lackawanna River. The path would traverse the barrens, and Citizens Alert
Regarding the Environment is concerned the sewer line would open up the
barrens to devastating development.
CARE has filed a lawsuit to stop construction through the largest
high-altitude pine barrens in Pennsylvania and one of the largest on the East
Coast. It’s an area that has already been recognized as environmentally
sensitive and unique. Citizens, officials and lawmakers should take up the
defense of the Moosic barrens and other, similar land, not as singular
projects but as a general, proactive way of thinking.
Development is possible without coursing through unique natural areas such
as the Moosic barrens, a watershed that provides drinking water for the
Scranton area. It’s not unlike watershed in Luzerne County that Theta
threatens to sell.
Of course, profit is what this is about. Property owners, including the
Theta Corp., were negotiating to sell thousands of acres of the barrens to the
Nature Conservancy until the sewer line received state approval last year.
The conservancy had already purchased 1,200 acres of the barrens in the
1990s with $2 million of public and private money. The hope was to put another
5,000 acres under the conservancy’s control.
If the landowners of Moosic barrens would like to show good faith, they
should honor the earlier arrangements and sell the land to Nature Conservancy
as previously negotiated.
Until then, we endorse the blocking effort of CARE and its supporters and
encourage others – especially lawmakers and public officials – to show their
support for the unique and important environment of Pennsylvania.