Apr 12, 2016 2 min read

Two letters to the editor in the Sunday Observer-Reporter really were the last straw. The comments were similar, complaining about noise, dirt, exhaust fumes, traffic safety and other issues related to fracking.

The blatant truth is the vast majority of these exaggerated complaints come from people who are receiving little or no monetary benefit from the gas industry.

Try asking any young person with their first good-paying job working for the local gas companies or their suppliers. Ask local farmers who are making a substantial living for the first time in 30, 40 or 50 years. Ask any of the hundreds of area families who receive monthly royalty checks. These royalties, among other things, contribute to the tax base, allow for a secure income for seniors, pave and repair roads and allow our county to vastly improve parks.

Like anything else in life and economics, there are winners and losers. The land owners, workers and investors are thrilled with fracking results. The naysayers with dirty porches or imagined bad wells and no royalty income are vocal and play into the hands of the left-leaning environmental and no-gas-income cabal.

The real truth is the complaints come from those left out of the action. Period.

William L. Miller

Avella