I cut down trees. I skip and jump. I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing. And hang around in bars

"If trees could scream, would we be so cavelier about cutting them down?
Maybe not, if they screamed all the time". Jack Handy

So - instead of setting up weight stations and fining overweight vehicles, they blocked the road for everyone.

Not a great idea, there.

They could have just passed a new law, charging crazy amounts of money for overweight trucks, and raised the cash for road repairs in a few weeks...

Enjoy tap water you can light on fire.

I endorse this product and/or service.

Off of!!!!!

The mark of the barely literate!!!!

What a great way to enforce those no good job killing regulations!

cirby: So - instead of setting up weight stations and fining overweight vehicles, they blocked the road for everyone.

Not a great idea, there.

They could have just passed a new law, charging crazy amounts of money for overweight trucks, and raised the cash for road repairs in a few weeks...

A township of 100 people in rural Pennsylvania is going to enforce the law on a large corporation? Sure. Short of the creative solution employed here, they could have sued and might have gotten some money out of it in ten years or so.

Tillmaster: Off of!!!!!

The mark of the barely literate!!!!

This is the kind of tedious nonsense up with which I will not put!

Tillmaster: Off of!!!!!

The mark of the barely literate!!!!

I rank that grammatical faux pas right up there with the egregious use of exclamation points.

Sounds like all they had to do was station a cop car there to hand out tickets as the trucks go by.

I_Am_Weasel: There is inherit danger in using logs to block roads. Whereas they are good for a snack and may fit on your back, they can also roll over your neighbor's dog. Yet, I suppose, they're better than bad.

It also rolls down stairs by itself or with an occompanying log

/but I'm not sure that would be applicable in this situation.
//it's good
///Ren and Stimpy

I wonder whose trees they were?

They are doing it wrong.

Here in Lil' Rhody, if you go through Pawtucket with a tractor-trailer or any vehicle over the weight limit for the bridge, you are fined $3,000.

That's not a typo. 3 Kilobucks.

There are signs all over the place leading up to this, and they get ignored, and the dumbasses get tagged.

No tree should have had to been felled for this. Poor trees.

Somebody better check on that family with the 4 hot daughters.

Woohoo, finally Lycoming County appears in the news for something other than Floods and High School Basketball riots.

Shadow Blasko: They are deforesting hundreds of acres near here because of the Horned Beetle.

It's really sad because part of the land was a state park, and the trees are old growth.

/And we can't even enjoy a bigass bonfire

Those trees were "dead trees standing" because of the Asian Longhorned beetle. Do not mourn them.

aerojockey: A township of 100 people in rural Pennsylvania is going to enforce the law on a large corporation? Sure. Short of the creative solution employed here, they could have sued and might have gotten some money out of it in ten years or so.

THIS. It's a shame. Maybe small town admins could become the new folk hero, busting down "The Man" when he comes in to take over your town?

Ah, I doubt it. Look at corporate U.S. interests v. South America.

Gyrfalcon:
Rip up the road even more installing and staffing a set of truck scales,

You do know that police-issued truck scales are portable now, right? They could buy a set for about $3000 and make it back on the first ticket.

They could probably rent a set, for that matter.

ZAZ: No need to cut trees. Drop a few Jersey barriers across the road.

The compliance order required the township to prohibit vehicles of more than six tons from the road and submit a plan to DEP for its stabilization. The township tried to comply with DEP's order banning heavy vehicles by erecting signs and using barricades, but Roupp said truck drivers ignored them.

Does Pennsylvania allow townships to ban heavy vehicles from a road without state DOT approval? In Massachusetts and Connecticut towns need a permit from the DOT, because otherwise every town would ban trucks. It doesn't matter if the truck ban is environmentally necessary. Roads are open to all vehicles or none without a truck exclusion permit.

Depends on who maintains the road. Some are maintained by the state, some by the counties, and some by the municipalities.

cirby: So - instead of setting up weight stations and fining overweight vehicles, they blocked the road for everyone.

Not a great idea, there.

They could have just passed a new law, charging crazy amounts of money for overweight trucks, and raised the cash for road repairs in a few weeks...

Actually it's a good idea when oil conglomerates tell the locals to go pound sand. Also, try reading this relevant part of the article:

The township, which has about 100 residents, has been after Range for months to make repairs to the road, Roupp said. The Department of Environmental Protection on Dec. 15 told the township it was in violation of erosion and sediment regulations.

The compliance order required the township to prohibit vehicles of more than six tons from the road and submit a plan to DEP for its stabilization. The township tried to comply with DEP's order banning heavy vehicles by erecting signs and using barricades, but Roupp said truck drivers ignored them.

I think the actions are justified when the local EPA is up your ass for a fix, and those creating the problem ignore you. Also, it's a tiny village along a state route, and the road could be 15 miles up in the woods for all anyone knows. It's not an interstate with rolling weigh stations and tate troopers hanging around.

Came for the minecraft jokes. Leaving disappointed.

fanbladesaresharp:
It's not an interstate with rolling weigh stations and tate troopers hanging around.

That's right- it's a small township where the local cops can easily stop the trucks rolling through, and use those $3000 portable scales to help enforce the law. With the EPA "on your ass," $3000 is a small price to pay.

If they don't want to bother with having an actual police officer on duty, there are lots of other alternatives (like calling the the state cops and letting them keep the money from the tickets). Two tickets a month would pay for an officer plus the scales, and it's obvious that they can meet that number with no problem.

If the trucks decide they don't want to stop at checkpoints, spike strips are pretty cheap too.

Sound like they cut down the trees just to save the road. They are OK with fracking up the groundwater.

cirby: fanbladesaresharp:
It's not an interstate with rolling weigh stations and tate troopers hanging around.

That's right- it's a small township where the local cops can easily stop the trucks rolling through, and use those $3000 portable scales to help enforce the law. With the EPA "on your ass," $3000 is a small price to pay.

If they don't want to bother with having an actual police officer on duty, there are lots of other alternatives (like calling the the state cops and letting them keep the money from the tickets). Two tickets a month would pay for an officer plus the scales, and it's obvious that they can meet that number with no problem.

If the trucks decide they don't want to stop at checkpoints, spike strips are pretty cheap too.

Assuming you can get enough local cops to divert their time away from more pressing issues, you know like anything more important than a tree some pissed off town council guy cut down....

You make it sound like the fix is only 5 minutes away. It's not a bad idea, but have you lived in tiny unknown communities when shiat needs to get done? Trust me, you'll be ignored by everyone until there's a forest fire or aliens actually land. Time and resources are gold, if you can have some of both. The guy cut down some trees. Big deal, but he got the message across. He could have easily shot someone, an action that isn't limited to little communities

Like farking for virginity?

/Did not RTFA.

Why all the intellectually dishonest subby trolling the past year or so? Seriously, find a new meme, the whole pretending to not understand the issue fully to prove some juvenile "point" that 99% of the time is nothing more than some Beck or Hannity talking point is just old. Grow the fark up.

How dare I presume a neocon/gop/conservative base could be legitimately honest, then again, they're all about principles, right?

It's been nice, but I'm not wasting any more time with children who prefer make believe to reality, adios.

Take the Chainsaw - leave the Cannoli

that's not the company's plan. "We expect to be working in that area for a very long time," he said lied.

Wasn't this the plot of one of the Ernest movies?


Yeah, I know they're stupid-they made me laugh so hard I made pig nosies and boogers came out my nose Problem wit dat?

cirby: So - instead of setting up weight stations and fining overweight vehicles, they blocked the road for everyone.

Not a great idea, there.

They could have just passed a new law, charging crazy amounts of money for overweight trucks, and raised the cash for road repairs in a few weeks...

Yeah, they should have just started writing tickets and then impounding trucks if the tickets got ignored.

bubo_sibiricus: They are doing it wrong.

Here in Lil' Rhody, if you go through Pawtucket with a tractor-trailer or any vehicle over the weight limit for the bridge, you are fined $3,000.

That's not a typo. 3 Kilobucks.

There are signs all over the place leading up to this, and they get ignored, and the dumbasses get tagged.

No tree should have had to been felled for this. Poor trees.

Exactly. Overweight tickets should be very expensive.

cirby: Gyrfalcon:
Rip up the road even more installing and staffing a set of truck scales,

You do know that police-issued truck scales are portable now, right? They could buy a set for about $3000 and make it back on the first ticket.

They could probably rent a set, for that matter.

Exactly. Portable ones.

ZAZ: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat

Here in Massachusetts the state has to approve truck restrictions on town-controlled roads too. State roads don't go enough places to let towns have their way. About eight years ago Cambridge was wanted to ban trucks from the city at night. Neighboring cities were shocked and outraged (that they didn't think of it first) and the plan fell apart for legal reasons. Now Boston wants to ban hazmat and Cambridge in turn is shocked and outraged that any city would want to divert truck traffic into its neighbor.

The problem here is the trucks are too heavy for the road in question.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Sound like they cut down the trees just to save the road. They are OK with fracking up the groundwater.

Nah, there is nothing they can do about them screwing up the environment. The state has fewer environmental restrictions on what they're doing than Texas does. Think about that for a second and let it sink in.

I grew up near there and what they are doing is utterly despicable. In ten years or so, the drillers will have moved on and the area will turn back into another abandoned afterthought.

notsosilentbob: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Sound like they cut down the trees just to save the road. They are OK with fracking up the groundwater.

Nah, there is nothing they can do about them screwing up the environment. The state has fewer environmental restrictions on what they're doing than Texas does. Think about that for a second and let it sink in.

I grew up near there and what they are doing is utterly despicable. In ten years or so, the drillers will have moved on and the area will turn back into another abandoned afterthought.

Pull an Iraq and constantly sabotage the shiat out of their operations. Make them stay in there for much longer than ten years with at least ten times the cost. Get Anon or someone to find their personal fax, phone, and card numbers and make their lives a living hell.

Shadow Blasko: bubo_sibiricus: Shadow Blasko: They are deforesting hundreds of acres near here because of the Horned Beetle.

It's really sad because part of the land was a state park, and the trees are old growth.

/And we can't even enjoy a bigass bonfire

Those trees were "dead trees standing" because of the Asian Longhorned beetle. Do not mourn them.

99% (at least) of the trees that are being cut are not infested. They are taking ALL the trees in the area to make sure it does not spread (which, I understand.. just wish there was another way)

If only there was a way for the trees to come back...

Doink_Boink: Why all the intellectually dishonest subby trolling the past year or so? Seriously, find a new meme, the whole pretending to not understand the issue fully to prove some juvenile "point" that 99% of the time is nothing more than some Beck or Hannity talking point is just old. Grow the fark up.

How dare I presume a neocon/gop/conservative base could be legitimately honest, then again, they're all about principles, right?

It's been nice, but I'm not wasting any more time with children who prefer make believe to reality, adios.

I was with your first sentence because, honestly, the headline trolling this year has been ridiculous. However, most of them seem to be rather lefty in nature (although, both the idiot-right and idiot-left trolls are getting out of hand).

StreetlightInTheGhetto: over large industry that runs in, pulls resources, and doesn't give a goddamn about the surrounding area other than profits and those are more if you spend less on expenses so who cares about these people who will still be here when we leave...

The locals are the reason they are there in the first place. Gas and oil leases are paying big bucks. We signed the family farm last fall for $4500 per acre. Lease's are up around $5500 now. They have to sign up 600 acre blocks to drill.

As for portables, You just don't buy a set and start weighing trucks. you have to be certified and the state of PA doesn't like sharing revenue with the locals.

Never mind the fact the road should have been bonded in the first place. Then there are all kinds of gray areas. Say you live on a 10 ton road(quite common PA) You order something that's coming by truck. The cops have no power to stop and fine a truck from making a delivery to you .

They wanted the money from the gas and oil companies, now they get to pay the price.