West Penn resident active in fight to protect health safety and welfare against consequences of water extraction passes away

West Penn resident Ted (Theodore) "Doc" Luhowy Sr., 139 Fort Franklin Road, died early December 3rd, 2016 at his home.  Mr. Luhowy was 77 years old.

Ted was a leading voice in attempting to motivate West Penn supervisors to take proactive and now reactive steps to ensure that water extraction by Jay Land's companies does not continue to negatively impact the heath safety and welfare of residents.  Ted pushed for progress on posting and bonding of the roads, which supervisors inexplicably appear to have tabled after spending over $10,000 of taxpayer funds to study.  Now that Mr. Land has shown that his plan is to shift full blown production from his Pine Valley site down the road to the Fort Franklin site, it is more important than ever for the battle Ted was fighting to be pursued and won.  Despite his persistent efforts, the supervisors haven't done anything substantive to protect the health safety and welfare of their residents - their #1 responsibility.

This blogger met Ted only once, and corresponded several times with him.  He was passionate about this cause, unlike the supervisors of West Penn Township, who appear to have no concern whatsoever for their residents' welfare, their safety, or township property.

There are some very committed people involved in this fight, so Mr. Land should not assume that he is home free with Ted's passing.  There are other very dedicated residents and a lawyer who have been tracking his movements and business "model" for some time.  He's shoved the DEP around for several years, and the West Penn supervisors have done nothing at all to hold him accountable.  Mr. Land shouldn't toast yet to the thought of West Penn supervisors continuing to sit on their hands with their thumbs up their asses while he sucks 100s of thousands of gallons of non-permitted well water (not spring water) from the ground daily, compromises and pollutes neighbor's wells and ships his bounty offsite in an irresponsible and grossly unsafe manner.  His day will come.

My condolences to Mr. Luhowy's family, friends, and associates.  Ted's fight on Earth is over and his time for eternal rest has come - others will fill the void in the battle against Mr. Land's practices and follow in Ted's indelible footsteps.