Dimock, Penn. Lawsuit Trial-Bound as Study Links Fracking to Water Contamination in Neighboring County

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-horn/dimock-penn-lawsuit-trial-bound-
as-study-links-fracking-to-water-contamination-in-neighboring-
county_b_7248604.html

A recent peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences has confirmed what many fracking critics have argued
for years: hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas can contaminate
groundwater.

The study's release comes as a major class action lawsuit filed in the
District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in 2009 winds its
way to a jury trial later this year. The lawsuit over fracking groundwater
contamination pits plaintiffs based in Dimock, PA against Cabot Oil and
Gas Corporation.

For the study, researchers examined groundwater contamination incidents at
three homes in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale basin in Bradford County. As
The New York Times explained, the water samples showed "traces of a
compound commonly found in Marcellus Shale drilling fluids."

It's not the first time fracking has been linked to groundwater
contamination in northeastern Pennsylvania. And that brings us back to
Dimock , located in neighboring Susquehanna County.

As DeSmogBlog revealed in August 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) had in its possession an unpublished PowerPoint presentation
summarizing an Agency-contracted study that linked fracking to groundwater
contamination in Dimock, a study the Agency later abandoned and censored.

That presentation was subsequently leaked and published here for the first
time.

Conclusions

Methane is released during the drilling and perhaps during the fracking
process and other gas well work.

Methane Methane is at significantly significantly higher concentrations
concentrations in the aquifers aquifers after gas drilling and perhaps as
a result of fracking and other gas well work.

The methane migrating into the aquifer is both from the shallower
(younger age) formations and older Marcellus Shale (and perhaps even older
formations).

Methane and other gases released during drilling (including air from the
drilling) apparently cause significant damage to the water quality.

In some cases the aquifers recover (under a year) but, in others cases the
damage is long term (greater than 3 years).

http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/blogimages/Scree
n%20Shot%202013-08-04%20at%208.01.22%20PM.png

In its official July 2012 Dimock desk statement, EPA said "there are not
levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the
Agency." As Greenpeace USA researcher Jesse Coleman recently pointed out,
EPA has done the bidding of the oil and gas industry on multiple instances
during high profile fracking studies.

That PowerPoint presentation and the new Bradford County study could both
potentially serve as key pieces of evidence in the U.S. District Court
case.

Ely v. Cabot
Initially, the U.S. District Court complaint filed in November 2009
featured many more plaintiffs.

The story of how fracking forever changed Dimock played a prominent role
in the documentary films "Gasland" and "Gasland: Part II." Dimock's saga
also received national and international media coverage by "60 Minutes"
and the BBC.

ut years passed by in the case and eventually most of the plaintiffs
agreed -- some would argue they were forced -- to enter into a plea deal
with Cabot. But the rest of the plaintiffs have stood their ground, and
will soon have their day in court.

Many of the plaintiffs entered into a presidential election-year plea deal
with Cabot in August 2012, a month after EPA declared publicly that water
is safe to drink in Dimock (while privately telling citizens the
opposite). The case caption then changed from Norma Florentino v. Cabot to
Scott Ely v. Cabot.

Ely is a former Cabot employee joined in the case by co-plaintiff Ray
Hubert, who lives up the street from Ely on Carter Road. When shown the
leaked PowerPoint back in August 2013 by DeSmog, Ely expressed despair
over EPA abandoning ship in this high profile study.

"When does anybody just stand by the truth? Why is it that we have a bunch
of people in Washington, DC who are trying to manipulate the truth of
what's happening to people in Dimock because of the industry?," Ely asked
rhetorically at the time.

"We thought EPA was going to come in and be our savior. And what'd they
do? They said the truth can't be known: hide it, drop it, forget about
it."

"Stand with Dimock Families"

Advocates for the grassroots group Energy Justice Network have created an
IndieGoGo page to raise funds for the legal battle set to go to a jury
trial sometime between October and December 2015, depending on the Judge's
final scheduling decision. They have also created a website,
StandWithDimock.org.

he IndieGoGo page explains that the co-plaintiffs have limited access to
clean water due to the impacts of Cabot's drilling operations.

"[S]ince 2008, the Elys and Huberts have been living without reliable
access to water and under rationing conditions. To survive day to day,
these families haul water at their own expense every week for drinking,
bathing and other daily basics. They purchase bottled water for drinking
and cooking," the page explains. "The Court has recognized that these
plaintiffs have a case against Cabot which they are preparing to present
to a jury of their peers."

To be certain, this is a case that will be key in determining whether
frackers who contaminate drinking water can be held accountable under
federal law.



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