Dirty Fracking Business by Peter Ralph

Author:Peter Ralph
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction - Political, Fiction - Environmental, Fiction - Thriller, General Fiction
ISBN: 9781877096341
Publisher: Melbourne Books
Published: 2012-02-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Jack Thomas had no time for the state environment authorities, whom he saw as mere sycophants to their political masters. However, there were times, like now, when he had irrefutable evidence of a serious environmental crime, that he relished the thought of bringing them to account. He asked the receptionist to put him through to a senior environment officer with whom he’d had many run-ins. Angry at having been kept waiting for nearly five minutes, he blurted out his accusation. The officer condescendingly responded that they already knew about the spillage, that the company had reported it, that it was accidental, that damage was minimal and that Filliburton was making its best efforts to minimise the impact of the spill. Thomas silently cursed; someone must have seen Dean spying, as the gas companies never fessed up to anything unless they knew they had already been sprung. He put the phone down, his earlier ebullient mood replaced with dejection.

The crushing sorrow weighing on Charles Paxton had threatened to derail him, and it was only the warm feeling he got from thinking about taking the law into his own hands that kept him from completely losing his mind. He mused about blowing Spencer Harbrow’s head off with his double-barrel shot gun, smashing his pick-up truck into Moira Raymond’s car and pummelling Frank Beck to death with his bare fists, but his upbringing and character would never let him act these thoughts out. Every day he woke up grieving for Charlie, his marriage was on the rocks, the farm and winery were neglected and his only companion was Cosmos, who never left his side. He had taken the autopsy to his local and federal members of parliament, the EPA, lawyers and cancer specialists, all to no avail. Just like Dr George, they told him that the level of toxins found in Charlie’s liver and kidneys were within normal parameters. In his mind there was no such thing as a normal level of poison in the body of a six-year-old and he knew, without the slightest smidgeon of doubt, that CEGL had killed his son.

He was glad that he had taken it upon himself to organise Lock ’em Out and it was only when he was recruiting, circulating phone numbers and planning tactics, that the ever-present misery eased. One of the men who had signed on without any prompting was Mick Petheridge, an estatee, who headed up the Tura Defence Association, and who turned out to be a very clever tactician with an amazing knowledge of what the gas companies were doing. They had hit it off immediately and barely a day went by without them meeting or talking on the phone.

Paxton accepted Billy McGregor and his larrikin mob only after they swore they would not beat up the gas companies’ employees, but deep down he didn’t really care. Tom Morgan was another who had signed on without needing to be asked and soon there was a small army of 250 ready to move at short notice.

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