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When we last checked in with our friends in Dimock, Pennsylvania, some unlikely heroes were delivering a truck full of drinking water. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) had determined that Cabot Oil and Gas was no longer responsible to provide water to families affected by contamination. In so doing, PA DEP seemed to send the message that they were protecting Cabot more than the environment or local citizens. Thankfully, the EPA stepped in to investigate, and they determined that the well water of four of the eleven families contained dangerous contaminants. Now the EPA is in the water delivery business. Welcome to Frackville.
The fact that the EPA felt obligated to provide drinking water to four Dimock families was a victory for residents who have been without safe drinking water since November 30, 2011. Since that time, the families have relied upon environmental organizations and sympathetic mayors to provide them with safe water for drinking, bathing and other household uses. A federal agency made the right call, even if the state agency in pro-fracking Pennsylvania couldn’t take responsibility for the contamination.
While Cabot Oil and Gas continues to deny that their operations are the cause of the contamination, the facts might reveal a different story in due time. Cabot has been drilling in Dimock, near to the victim’s properties, and while the contaminants found in their water are certainly not natural to the area, they are often associated with fracking.
And this certainly isn’t limited to Dimock. Some residents in Butler, Pennsylvania could be next on the EPA’s delivery route. If fracking is allowed to continue, will the EPA become a bottled water delivery service?
If the EPA hadn’t stepped in and taken the time to conduct a proper investigation, this story could have ended differently. Meanwhile, every week reveals new information about fracking’s negative impacts. We’re learning the hard way. If we had put research and study before rapid industrial expansion, fracking might not be the cause of so many harmful events.
Food & Water Watch (http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org) Executive Director Wenonah Hauter challenges the July 13 meeting of the Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy, Advisory Board Safety on Shale Gas Development on a number of fronts.
Gasland director Josh Fox tells the panel that the citizens are missing from the July 13 meeting of the Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy, Advisory Board Safety on Shale Gas Development
Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org to join the movement to ban fracking. Fracking is a false promise that will destroy our communities. Newly uncovered emails from industry insiders show that natural gas companies are having an "Enron" movement. Go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org. Join the movement to ban fracking.
Fracking is a false promise that will destroy our communities. Newly uncovered emails from industry insiders show that natural gas companies are having an "Enron" movement. So why does Governor Cuomo support fracking? Go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org and tell Govenor Cuomo, "Ban fracking."
Our drinking water is at risk from toxic chemicals that can leak in as a result of fracking. Join Food & Water Watch in doing something to protect our water.
Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter on how broken farm policy leads to deterioration of our rural farms and the need to ban fracking. Get involved in working for clean, safe, affordable food and water: www.foodandwaterwatch.org.
Last week, soon-to-be-former New York Governor David Paterson surprised many when he vetoed the fracking moratorium and signed an executive order that creates loopholes that could allow some kinds of fracking to continue. Paterson explained that, “Enacting this legislation would put people out of work…,” referring to jobs associated with drilling. But, there’s another labor force that’s threatened by fracking: upstate New York farmers. Read more…
By Rich Bindell