Drinking Dimock: A Glass Full of Gas Water

by Melissa Troutman on December 5, 2011 · 2 Comments

If the case of groundwater contamination by natural gas drilling in Dimock, Pennsylvania sets precedent for how the state deals with damaged private water wells, they may not require that the party responsible for the contamination restore your water permanently, depending upon the definitions of “restore” and “permanent.”

Dimock Sets Precendent

Nearly three years ago, 18 residential water wells servicing 19 homes in Dimock, Pennsylvania were contaminated by the natural gas operations of Cabot Oil & Gas, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

DEP initially issued a number of violations for improper drilling practices in Dimock and a consent order requiring Cabot to provide residents with “water in the amounts sufficient to satisfy water usage needs” until DEP notified the company that it had “determined that the Affected Water Supply had been restored.”

The DEP’s investigation began when a water well exploded at one Dimock residence on Janurary 1, 2009 due to methane migration. Read the rest of this article in the Public Herald....

About Melissa Troutman

Melissa Troutman is co-founder of The Public Herald. She has experience as a traditional print and multimedia journalist and has a passion for photography, teaching, songwriting, and dance. As Managing Editor and co-founder of The Public Herald, Melissa strives to unearth, or sometimes dust off and reorganize, stories that are valuable to all readers. You can email her at melissa@publicherald.org. View all posts by Melissa Troutman »