Welcome back everyone to our Lancaster PA road trip part 5 and picking up where we left off last.
After leaving the Pennsylvania Welcome Center we took Emma for a nice long walk and played a quick game of Frisbee before getting back on the road. From here our next stop was Gamble Township located in north central Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. This is where the Sunoco gasoline pipeline spill took place along Wallis Run. This is one very rural area that had us wondering if our van, Daisy, could stay on the path they called Trout Run Mountain Road. I mean this was a deer trail with a packed surface. We didn’t find the exact site of the spill zone but were very close. As we traveled along this remote section of road, completely lost, we happened upon a person walking. Pulling alongside of her our eyes locked and it was as if she read our minds and knew we were lost. Little did we know this moment would result in such a delightful conversation with a woman whose name was Norma. She was so kind and before long we were gabbing up a storm about the oil industry that was blooming all around her little community sharing many details of that October night when the leak occurred. When noting the volume that was reported to have been leaked she suggested it may have been much more but was not sure of the exact amount. She said the workers were on scene within hours of the incident and by morning had constructed a temporary bridge to reconnect access to a town cut off because the roadway and bridge connecting it from surrounding areas was washed out. Overall Norma said Sunoco handled the situation well and was now taking many precautionary measures to protect the area in the event another situation like it should occur. This comforted her and us. In looking at some of the reported information on the pipelines and refineries in PA we discovered;
- Pennsylvania has 6 refineries that together pump 771,000 barrels of oil per day,
- United States in 2015 produced an average of about 9.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, about 3.3 million barrels per day of other non-crude petroleum liquids, and about 1.1 million barrels per day of biofuels.
- United States in 2015 consumed a total of 7.08 billion barrels of petroleum products, an average of about 4 million barrels per day.
- America is one of the world’s largest oil producers, and close to 40 percent of U.S. oil needs are met at home.
- Most of the imports currently come from four countries: Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela,
- United States in 2015 consumed about 140.43 billion gallons (or about 3.34 billion barrels) of gasoline for a daily average of about 384.74 million gallons (or about 9.16 million barrels per day).
- United States in 2012 ranked as the world’s biggest oil consuming country. Consuming 18.5 million barrels of oil per day accounting for nearly 20% of the world’s total oil consumption per day. The highest level of oil consumption in US history was 20.8mbd, which occurred in 2005.
Well this is it for today. If you by chance didn’t see a previous part please click on one of the links below and be whisked directly there,
- Lancaster PA Road Trip – 1 of 14
- Lancaster PA Road Trip – 2 of 14
- Lancaster PA Road Trip – 3 of 14
- Lancaster PA Road Trip – 4 of 14
We hope to see you next time when we continue our series on Lancaster, PA. Until then we wish you well and remember to keep looking up.
USA Through Our Eyes 
🙇♂️🙇♀️
LikeLiked by 2 people
So very well said and true! I like your use of the image of the garden. 👍🏾
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Daily Thankful! Your words encourage us. We enjoy bringing God moments in time to life in our photos and images. Its amazing as we walk in this garden He has given us to peruse how many wonderful works of art there are.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful filming and narration, as usual. It reminded me of something one might hear on NPR or PBS. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Theresa. You do not realize how good these words make us feel.
LikeLike
Absolutely right – but also video can be done badly. … ! yours are so lovely AND artistic!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have been loving recording snippets of time. At RIT they noted how video was the medium that allowed people to immerse into the moment and they were right. Where we were was just 8 hours south and the snow was less but none the less still very present.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just love the videos – they really give me a feeling of being there. Snow? Were you up at some high elevation? How beautiful. I’ve never been to Pennsylvania, I may need to go there! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
absolutely, thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know what you mean. Weren’t these stats interesting. We also were surprised at the volume we use.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your encouragement. We sure will continue. It is so fun meeting new people and learning about life through their eyes and sharing it through our eyes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for this blog. I really would love for you to keep on traveling. lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
interesting, i had no idea PA produced oil!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 wow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Robbie. It has been good for us exploring this topic that we had only heard being talked about before. Our eyes are opening which is at times anxiety producing but on the other hand exciting too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a very interesting read. Learning more about the oil leak and the subsequent preventative steps taken by the oil company is very encouraging. I wonder what is happening to these towns now with the much lower oil price?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Yes, She said within a couple hours they had the bridge built. Amazing how technology is today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good to read about temporary bridge construction.
The place is certainly an oil reservoir. 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is sooooo true Ann. We talk about this all of the time in our home and we are sure many others do too. We are seeing some difficult times right now in this beautiful by fallen world.
LikeLike
They are fighting with others Tom, and all for money, money, money. Money is the rooth of all evil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you are looking in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Ann. It seems there is so much happening in the energy world. It seems as though each industry is fighting with the other. It was eye opening to read the numbers of oil used.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great blog and a lot of information, overhere we have big trubble with the gas, in Groningen there are many earthquakes, and a lot of great houses are broken. The compensation for the people is not good, but stop the winning of gas is not an option, a little less and that is nog good enough. With oil and gas there are problems all over the world. Nice to see the video from Norma. Greetings, Ann.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Being aware is sometimes half the battle so thanks for informing us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ain’t this the truth Clarissa. When we started exploring all the energy sources that are being used i.e. wind, gas, oil etc, etc. it will take years before we can replace every car that drinks gas, houses that require heat etc. Pipeline101 was a site we looked at and were amazed at how many oil and gas lines are buried under us.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderfully informative post! I don’t see any of us living off the grid in the future, though 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Eugenia. It was an interesting journey of relaxation and learning for us. There was something of a contrast in lifestyles that intrigued us. Hard to describe.
LikeLike
Great post and I love the bits of information about the pipelines and refineries in Pa.
LikeLiked by 2 people