Mobile Home Park Residents Get a Reprieve

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

March 28, 2012 | 4:38 PM

Residents of a mobile home park in Piatt Township, Lycoming County, have a little more time before a frack water operation moves in to their neighborhood. The Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported last week that Riverdale Mobile Home Village residents received notice that they would have until May 1 to move out. Aqua PVR LLC had purchased the land and plans to build a water withdrawal facility to supply natural gas drillers. But the residents protested, saying they weren’t given enough time, or resources, to make the move.
Aqua spokeswoman Donna Alston says her company wasn’t aware that the former owner hadn’t informed residents of the impending sale. Alston says Aqua changed its design, so only three of the 37 lots have to be vacated by June 1. They’ve offered a $2500 incentive to all residents if they’re gone by that deadline.
“We’re hoping that everyone would be able to move,” says Alston. “But that clearly is not the case right now.” Alston says Aqua has also hired a local realtor to help the trailer park residents find new homes.
Alston agrees that $2500 would not cover the entire cost of moving a trailer, which can run between $6,000 and $10,000. But she says “it is something.”
Residents say they need more help. They’re holding a vigil and town hall meeting Wednesday night in Jersey Shore, a nearby town. A press release sent by the environmental group Protecting Our Waters, lays out their case.

“The residents hope to achieve a fair solution with Aqua PVR LLC, the subsidiary of Aqua America that plans to install a 3 million gallon per day water withdrawal facility to service Marcellus shale wells. An ideal solution compensates all 32 families for the full costs of moving or allows them to remain living in the park without the disruption of an industrial water pump. Attorneys for the residents will be present as well as residents available for interview.”

To view the residents speaking about their situation on YouTube, click here.