One needn’t live in a rural area in the midst of hydraulic fracturing gas wells to have your life upset by the scourge of fracking. I live two blocks from Main Street in Butler on a street that has become the main route for large trucks hauling silica sand to the fracking sites outside of town.

These trucks rumble up and down South Cliff Street from the rail yard on Center Avenue, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, causing serious noise pollution and spewing noxious diesel fumes into this residential area.

The frequency varies, but at a peak we’ve counted 30-plus trucks an hour, running constantly in both directions. A small group of neighbors openly protested for a few weeks and now the trucks run mostly overnight and on weekends.

I live in a 160-unit apartment building for seniors, disabled and low-income citizens. Many residents here have COPD and other lung ailments. Silica sand dust has been identified as a serious lung irritant. I am chronically ill and suffer from insomnia.

Not only do the trucks make a great deal of noise, but they shake my bedroom as they brake and shift in front of my end of the building. Although I have an air conditioner, the diesel fumes drift into my apartment and my bedroom smells of diesel fumes. My bedclothes smell of exhaust fumes. Sleep is hard enough to come by without this situation. Now, it can be impossible.

The trucks have broken our sidewalk where they turn onto East Jefferson Street.

I have called the mayor regarding this invasion of industrial trucking. He told me there is nothing that can be done. He seems to believe we should be proud because of all the money this industry is bringing to our area. A week later, he told me his sons work in the fracking industry.

I’ve called the Transflo rail yard on Center Avenue, but they haven’t called me back. The Butler County Housing Authority doesn’t seem interested either.

Being that no local entities wish to deal with this problem, I have contacted lawyers in Pittsburgh.