Dead calves, dry buffaloes, DRB Commission sued
RDA - Responsible Drilling Alliance
Dear RDA Members,
Remember those Tioga County cows that drank drilling flowback water? The incident made the front page of the Williamsport Sun Gazette. The story began when a flowback pit (called a “pond” by drilling companies, but full of fracking chemicals, heavy metals and salt not usually found in ponds) had leaked through its plastic liner and flowed into the cows’ pasture.
The water the cows drank contained chloride, iron, sulfate, barium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, strontium and calcium. The spill killed all vegetation in an area 30 feet by 40 feet. In early May, Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture quarantined the cows, worried that the resulting beef could be tainted and make people sick. East Resources, the drilling company responsible for the violation, objected to the quarantine, saying it was “an unnecessary step to take.”
Recently, NPR reporter Susan Phillips did a follow-up on the story, and spoke with Carol Johnson, the animals’ owner. Phillips learned that of the eleven calves born to the cows that drank contaminated water, eight were born dead or were so weak that they died shortly after birth.
“It’s abominable,” says Johnson, who along with her husband Don, has been raising cows on that land for 53 years, after taking over the farm from Don Johnson’s grandfather. “It’s highly unusual,” she said. “I might lose one or two calves a year, but I don’t lose eight out of eleven.”
Phillip’s full story available here: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/09/27/burning-questions-quarantined-cows-give-birth-to-dead-calves/
Dimock residents will soon be on their own for replacement drinking water. For the three years since they first noticed something wrong with their drinking water, gas drilling company Cabot has provided tanker trucks of potable water to refill the large plastic containers in the yards of Dimock residents. In addition to the front yard water buffaloes, vent stacks are connected to some water wells to prevent explosion, emitting a loud hissing noise as methane is vented off. Recent testing confirms that gas continues to lurk in Dimock's aquifer.
"We're very tired of it," says Jean Carter, 72. Carter and others are weary of the fight that has consumed Dimock every day since the fall of 2008.
After finding that Cabot failed to live up to the terms of two previous agreements to fix Dimock’s water, DEP announced in September, 2010 that it would force the company to pay nearly $12 million to connect the homes to a municipal water line 6 miles away. Residents cheered the move as a permanent solution to their problem. But opposition from Cabot, other citizens and local elected officials -- who viewed the water line as a costly boondoggle that taxpayers would ultimately get stuck with -- forced DEP to scuttle the plan.
Instead, the environmental agency struck a bargain with Cabot in December, 2010 under which the company would pay each of the affected residents twice the value of their homes and provide a treatment system to remediate the gas. Then-Environmental Secretary John Hanger said the settlement would help the residents put their lives back together, and send a strong message to the industry that pollution would not be tolerated.
Some Dimock residents say their water wells were fouled not only with methane that DEP said migrated from improperly cemented Cabot gas wells, but possibly with toxic chemicals that Cabot uses in the drilling process. The company denied responsibility, suggesting a nearby auto repair shop was to blame for the presence of toxins.
Victoria Switzer, whose water was found to be contaminated with toluene and ethylene glycol, doesn't believe Cabot's explanation.
The 58-year-old retired schoolteacher lived in a trailer for several years while her husband, also a teacher, built their dream home on seven wooded acres. She planned to live in it a long time, to host children and grandchildren. Even after methane contaminated her water, Switzer felt she could deal with it as long as the gas could be vented.
But chemicals are another thing.
"I want to live in this home, but I have to have drinking water," she said. "I have to have water that doesn't freak me out with wondering what's in it today."
Cabot's agreement with DEP does not make the company liable for any chemicals or metals that have turned up in the residents' water, nor does it require the company to treat the water for anything other than methane.
"Cabot does not have to provide a system that treats the water to safe drinking water standards," confirmed a DEP spokeswoman. Instead, the residents are supposed to use the settlement money from Cabot to remediate any other problems they have with their water.
This week, residents learned that deliveries of potable water are about to end, as PA environmental regulators have given the company permission to stop delivering replacement water. The Houston-based energy company asked DEP for permission to stop the water deliveries by the end of November, saying Dimock's water is safe to drink.
DEP granted Cabot's request this past Tuesday, claiming the energy company has satisfied the terms of the December, 2010 settlement agreement.
Full stories by Associated Press reporter Michael Rubinkam here:
http://www.crescent-news.com/ap%20financial/2011/10/15/tests-pa-drilling-town-s-water-still-fouled
http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x553403762/Drilling-company-released-from-drinking-water-obligation-in-Dimock
Have you heard about the Delaware River Basin Commission being sued by the city of brotherly love? Philadelphia’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission, demanding a study on the cumulative impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Fundamentally, this lawsuit forbids drilling in the watershed. This most recent lawsuit is added to similar actions already filed by the Attorney General of the State of New York, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and other parties. According to the resolution, Philadelphia is joining these lawsuits to require, “that no drilling of Marcellus Shale take place until a full environmental analysis is completed.” Meanwhile, gas drilling activity remains at full speed here in the Susquehanna River watershed.
Full story available here: http://protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/philadelphia-city-council-unanimously-passes-resolution-to-sue-drbc-demand-impact-studies-forbid-fracking-for-now/