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Without warning, a New Year’s Day explosion blew a massive cement cover off a residential water well in northern Pennsylvania and destroyed the plumbing in the hole.

The explosion on Norma Fiorentino’s seven acres in Dimock, Pennsylvania, just south of Montrose, marked the start of 2009 with a bang. In many ways, it also would become symbolic of problems with the promise of fracking, and environmental side effects cropping up across rural Pennsylvania.

The shale gas boom was taking off in woods and fields around the Fiorentino homestead – about 20 miles south of the New York border – where Cabot Oil & Gas had leased property to drill into the Marcellus Shale, one of the most prolific gas-producing formations in the country.

What happened to the Fiorentino water and hundreds of other water wells near drilling sites in Pennsylvania would fuel concerns and eventually contribute to the 2014 fracking ban in New York.

The Dimock explosion embodied issues – lack of disclosure, regulatory breakdowns and plenty of spin – that would become the crux of a controversy.

Click here for the full story.

In the wake of a 2014 audit, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale likened the state’s regulatory efforts to “firefighters trying to put out a five-alarm fire with a 20-foot garden hose.”
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_635836109005941689-AP-714110323575.jpg.optimal.jpgIn the wake of a 2014 audit, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale likened the state’s regulatory efforts to “firefighters trying to put out a five-alarm fire with a 20-foot garden hose.” Associated Press

John Hanger was the DEP Secretary under Gov. Edward Rendell and now works in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_635836126402928240-AP-428048646051.jpg.optimal.jpgJohn Hanger was the DEP Secretary under Gov. Edward Rendell and now works in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration. Associated Press

Cabot Oil & Gas purchased the home of Craig and Julie Sautner in Dimock, Pennsylvania, for $167,500 as part of a settlement over water contamination in 2012 and then demolished it. A land covenant in the deed prevents any further building on the lot.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Unknown-11.jpeg.optimal.jpegCabot Oil & Gas purchased the home of Craig and Julie Sautner in Dimock, Pennsylvania, for $167,500 as part of a settlement over water contamination in 2012 and then demolished it. A land covenant in the deed prevents any further building on the lot. Tom Wilber | Press & Sun-Bulletin

The former home of Heather and Jared McMicken on Paradise Road, once valued at $250,000, was appraised at $35,520 after the water well was ruined. It remains vacant since Chesapeake Oil & Gas bought the house as part of a 2012 settlement.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Unknown-21.jpeg.optimal.jpegThe former home of Heather and Jared McMicken on Paradise Road, once valued at $250,000, was appraised at $35,520 after the water well was ruined. It remains vacant since Chesapeake Oil & Gas bought the house as part of a 2012 settlement. Tom Wilber | Press & Sun-Bulletin

Ken Morcom and Kim Grosso, drilling supporters, lost their water well to pollution after Cabot Oil & Gas fracked a nearby gas well in 2013. Cabot makes weekly water deliveries to the couple’s farm in Dimock, Pennsylvania.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Unknown1.jpeg.optimal.jpegKen Morcom and Kim Grosso, drilling supporters, lost their water well to pollution after Cabot Oil & Gas fracked a nearby gas well in 2013. Cabot makes weekly water deliveries to the couple’s farm in Dimock, Pennsylvania. Tom Wilber | Press & Sun-Bulletin
Dimock explosion exposes a lack of disclosure, regulatory breakdowns and plenty of spin

By Tom Wilber

Press & Sun-Bulletin

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, New York, recently published a three-day special report into Pennsylvania’s fracking industry. Its reporting revealed:

  • Pennsylvania Labor Department inflated figures to make shale gas industry job outlook stronger than it is.
  • Industry is generating millions of dollars in “impact fees” to small-town economies to buy good will near drilling sites in lieu of a more costly state tax.
  • Fracking has brought both a rise in crime and influx of money to help rural poverty and public safety.

Its three-day series is being republished in the Times Leader Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with permission from the Press & Sun-Bulletin.