As members of the Wetzel County Action Group, we were shocked and saddened to see a letter in the paper last week attacking the characters of people whom this “concerned citizen” doesn’t even know. How easy it must be for people with their heads in the sand to judge others.

We would like to clarify a few points made in that letter. We, like so many of our neighbors, had no electric or phone for several days. We carried water for our livestock, hauled in our firewood, and shoveled snow, as well as checked up on our neighbors. We made several trips to town to pick up supplies for ourselves as well as our neighbors. But then, how could you know this, when you don’t even know us.

The WCAG, like any organization, deals with a specific issue, not a variety. In no way does this group try to impede anyone from making a living. We only want to see the laws enforced and safety measures put into place to make oil and gas drilling in our area safe for the residents as well as the workers. A lot of men in this valley have a union to protect their backs, oil and gas workers in this area are non-union.

Thanks to the WCAG, our school buses have a pilot truck escorting them to help ensure the safety of our children, tractors and trailers have escort vehicles on these narrow roads to help ensure the safety of residents as well as the workers, and CHK has hired security to enforce the speed limit of their workers (they have been clocked at 74 mph on Rt. 89). These are just some of the issues that WCAG has worked on.

Maybe a “concerned citizen” out there can answer the following questions for us:

Who is responsible for the working people in and around Silver Hill who are late for work or can’t even get home for hours because a CHK truck is over the hill or has the road blocked because of icy and snowy conditions?

What about the road being closed for hours and no one from CHK informs the 911 call center so they can reroute emergency vehicles?

What about CHK trucks blocking the road and slowing down the electric repairmen in restoring our electric service during the last snowstorm?

Maybe you should walk a mile in our shoes before you pass judgment on us.

Rose Baker and Bonnie Hall

Silver Hill residents