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Out with a bang

The whole thing was a huge controversy 50 years ago. It began on June 6, 1967. The headline in the Lock Haven Express read “A-Blast Study in Orviston-Keating Area Is Confirmed,” which was a severely boring headline, considering that they were talking about a nuclear bomb.

The Columbia Gas Company of Pittsburgh, working with the Atomic Energy Commission, announced that they were proceeding with a study. To make an underground storage tank for gas, they were considering a plan to hollow out the space by setting off a nuclear device. The study, known as “Project Ketch,” was taking place in Clinton County. The site of the proposed explosion was south of Renovo, near the Clinton County line along Route 144.

Perfectly safe, insisted the people who stood to profit financially. There was no reason we shouldn’t nuke the county.

Immediately and forcefully, the public came forward to protest this. The area they were discussing was a big hunting, fishing, and hiking spot, and people with hunting camps as far away as Sugar Valley came to meetings to fight the nuclear blast. Project Ketch actually unified the county in a way that most issues have never done; people from Lock Haven, Sugar Valley, Renovo, Beech Creek, and McElhattan were unified in their dislike of this plan to nuke our woods.

One of the most vocal protestors was Fred Iobst, a retired forest ranger from Renovo. Iobst attended meetings, pointing out consistently that everyone gained from this plan except the locals, who would be subjected to possible radiation.

Eleven men from the AEC’s Nevada office came out to investigate the possibility. One week later, State Representative Max Bossert paid a visit to the Nevada office. Bossert was a local educator and politician, very highly respected. He also got to witness a nuclear detonation in New Mexico while he was out West, and returned saying that he was convinced it would be harmless.

Another professional invited to explore the possibilities was Dr. David Ulmer, science director at Lock Haven University. You may recognize him as the man Ulmer Planetarium is named after. He investigated Project Ketch, and said he was convinced it would be safe. All of which did absolutely nothing to persuade the public, and the battle for a nuke-free forest continued.

The debate ranged as widely as the local schools. These days, Flemington resident Fran Decker runs the Covenant Cafe, an excellent local program for people with Alzheimer’s, and she has invited me to speak about local history there. Back in 1968, Fran took part in her high school debate team, where one of the activities was to argue about Project Ketch.

Phase One of the project consisted of leasing the land, drilling a hole 3,000 feet deep, and studying the layers of rock in the area. Phase Two involved actually setting off the bomb. You’ll notice that they remained a little vague on which phase involved actually bringing a nuclear bomb into the county

As the debate progressed, Lock Haven got a visit from State Secretary of Commerce Clifford Jones, who tried valiantly to reassure the public. He informed everyone, through the press, that the governor had only given permission for Phase One, and wouldn’t permit Phase Two unless it was deemed to be safe.

“If fears are not allayed,” said Jones, “there will be no detonation.”

The debate ranged hotly for a little over a year, until July of 1968. At that point, Columbia Gas sent a letter to the governor, declaring they’d “re-evaluated” Project Ketch, and were withdrawing it from Clinton County. After the local labor union delivered a petition with thousands of signatures, the company chose to give up on it magnanimously, all the while insisting it would have been completely safe, had they been allowed to proceed.

In the end, Project Ketch never happened, which was probably for the best. And everything in Clinton County went back to its usual abnormal normalcy. We narrowly avoided our county becoming a dystopian science fiction novel, which was most likely a good thing. That way, I haven’t had to volunteer as tribute.

——

Lou Bernard is a Lock Haven resident with a keen interest in the history of this area. He is adult services coordinator at Ross Library and may be reached at ross13@rosslibrary.org or 570-748-3321.

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