The Resurrection of Pete's Trading Post: "Drill Baby, Drill"
Posted: Saturday, February 18, 2012
by Jack H. Schick
When I went up to Allegheny National Forest in North Western Pennsylvania to hunt deer last Opening Day, I was surprised to see that Pete’s Trading Post, across the road from our cabin, was still open. Actually, the owner’s name is George. He bought the place a few decades ago and didn’t waste time or money changing the sign or the phone book listing. Business has been pretty bad for a long time. Pete’s has been for sale for years with the asking price going down and down. The boat storage and repair marina, a hundred yards down the road, closed up a few years back and is for sale too. Bill’s Trading Post Restaurant a quarter mile up further is still open, but has changed ownership a few times in just the past few years and you're never sure if it'll be open.
First, they shipped manufacturing jobs over seas and a lot of the plants up in Bradford or over in Warren shut down. Then, the EPA started pounding on the oil refineries. They had to either move out or cut back manpower to keep up with the new costs. Then, when the housing industry collapsed, the mainstay timber business went down with it, taking along with all the supporting industries, like the chainsaw repair shop my buddy Wes used to run over in Tallyho.
On top of all that, they changed the game laws and practically wiped out the deer herd. Hardly anyone comes up there to hunt anymore. On the way from town out to camp we’d see maybe 30 hunter’s vehicles parked along the road, now we’re lucky to see five. Pete’s business has taken a double and triple hit. They cut back on funding for trout stocking, so now, that season doesn’t bring many people up state anymore. The skyrocketing prices of fuel to run a boat or a snowmobile hasn’t helped. Add to all that an unemployment rate that’s double what it was four years ago and people aren't coming up to the lake on vacation, either. That’s why I was surprised to see Pete’s open and George’s ugly, but smiling face behind the counter.
A couple of years back, half of the guys who came to my famous Game Feed on Tuesday evening during Deer Week were unemployed, living off handouts from the government. Not this year. I was surprised that Len, Van and Joe T. all were back to work. I turns out they are having a drilling boom up there. The oil and gas companies are trying to develop the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits all across the Northern Tier. Like my cousin said, if you want to work, you can get a job around there now. He told me about a guy who was out of work for a couple of years and now has a water-hauling business with three trucks and a hand full of employees.
The 'boys' up there have grown used to me and seem to like me okay, but they don’t really trust my information or my point-of-view. They call me a ‘flatlander’ and accuse me of living ‘in the city’ (even thought there is a pretty big hill a couple miles from my place, and I’m a good 50 miles out of Philly). It bothers them a little that, even if every single one of them votes for the same candidate, the city people vote for the other one and out number them. I was glad they were working again, but made the mistake asking about some things I’d heard on the Marcellus Shale ‘fracking’ process.
“What about the ‘fracking’ polluting water wells?” I asked
Len spoke up on that one: “That’s b...s...! That's only at one place, out east where the gas bearing strata is shallow. Around here it’s at like 10,000 feet. They quadruple case the top part of the well till they get below the water table, which is at less than 500 feet.”
“I saw a video of them setting glasses of water on fire,” I said.
“Yep. Read up on it,” Len said. “They could light their water before the drilling started. They always could. Like I said, the gas is close to the surface there. Do you have any idea how much money they pay those people to drill on their land? They don't mind lighting their water--with hundred dollar bills.”
Van is probably the sharpest of the boys up there. He gave me a big lecture on the media and the Feds using propaganda to keep oil and gas expensive so they can make more money on the solar and wind power companies they have stock in (Joe T. disagrees. He thinks the administration is in bed with the ‘A-rabs,’ and is ovwely sympathetic to the ‘Islamo-bob’s’ as he call them).
When I mentioned oil and gas company profits even my cousin, who usually just sits there listening, drinking beer, chimed in: “This is America, baby. You make what you can make. Everybody gets a share of the cash eventually. It’s supply and demand, ain't it? The more we get out of the ground, the cheaper it gets. I say, drill, baby drill."
I’ve grown used to those boys up there. I like them okay. I sometimes call them hillbillies, and accuse them of living a little too far from a city (Erie doesn’t count), so I don’t always trust their information or point-of-view. I did some research on it on the Internet and, surprisingly, found out that almost everything they told me was true. I’d seen the movie “Gasland,” or whatever it was called, and wondered why they made everything involved with the industry look so bad, why they didn't mention Pete's Trading Post and Len's new job. For a minute I wondered if they actually were in bed with the A-rabs, but decided, maybe they 'd just already gotten their slice of the pie and didn't care if anybody els got theirs.
I always stop in Pete’s to say goodbye to George before I go home after Deer Camp. There were a half a dozen vehicles out front, including a couple of water trucks and a pick-up with a gas company logo on the side. I actually had to wait in line to buy my candy bar. The place is still for sale, but I’m still not interested.
The other day, I was reminded of George, up there in the woods at Pete’s Trading Post, and of Van, and Len and Joe T. At the gas station that morning (it’s up to $3.61!), I ran into an old buddy of mine. He’s been on unemployment for over a year now. He and his wife were on their way down to Doylestown, the county seat, to protest at our Representative's office. They're mad about the new laws that came out of Harrisburg this week relating to the Marcellus Shale gas field development. My buddy and his wife want all drilling and ‘fracking’ stopped immediately ("People can set their water on fire!" they yelled). They want huge taxes and fees put on the oil and gas industry so we can use the money to build more windmills.
I just nodded and waved as they drove off. As the gas pump clicked right on by fifty bucks, I thought about Pete's and all my Deer Camp buddies. I glared at my receipt and muttered to myself “Drill baby, drill! Quick!”
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)You keep thinkin like us and we will include you in the Hillbillie club.Or Bob, or Paul. Sorry if it's fictionalized a bit.
Rolling on Floor laughing...yes, I agree-Drill Baby Drill. I'm tired of giving my money to Sheiks and others who hate America! I drive an economical Ford, hopefully most of it is built in America, and those guys in NW PA deserve to work and have a good life too. Many who try to stop prosperity are drinking the Koolaid of extreme environmentalism. I want to take care of the environment, but we were given natural resources like gas and oil to meet our needs. We need to be self sufficient, and let the Arabs worry about their own piece of the desert.Thanks for reading and commenting, Elle. I heard from 'one of the boys' (see above comment).
How close to Indiana PA and Punxutawney is your Camp? Is that closer to Erie? That's my old church area. I love that part of the world. Oh, yeah. Drill.200 miles NNE of Pittsburgh, 100 miles east of Erie. I guess 175 or 185 N of Indiana.
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