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Will Corbett stop EPA from delivering clean water to fracking hotbed Dimock?
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett seems to really not want the Environmental Protection Agency to deliver clean drinking water to the people of Dimock, where methane - allegedly from natural gas drilling - has contaminated water wells.
Will Corbett stop EPA from delivering clean water to fracking hotbed Dimock?
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett seems to really not want the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver clean drinking water to the people of Dimock, where methane — allegedly from natural gas drilling — has contaminated water wells. A Jan. 5 letter to the EPA from state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer, reported by State Impact Pennsylvania, “makes it clear he thinks the EPA has no idea what it’s talking about, when it comes to methane migration in Dimock.”
The EPA, for its part, can't decide whether it will come through for Dimock or bow to Corbett's pressure.
“The EPA’s involvement in Dimock,” as the Associated Press put it, “has been erratic. Federal regulators told residents in late November their water didn’t pose a health threat, then backtracked as more sampling data came in that the agency said merited further investigation. Then, on Friday, EPA officials promised to hire a contractor to deliver water to the residents. A day later, EPA reneged and said the matter was still under consideration.”
EPA chief Lisa Jackson, who is in Philadelphia today, told WHYY's Susan Phillips that she found Secretary Krancer's letter “puzzling.”
Families from Dimock and Philadelphia environmentalists are gathered in Center City to demand that the EPA follow through and deliver the clean drinking water. In a January 10 letter, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) urged the EPA to move immediately to supply clean drinking water to Dimock, exercising its authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
So why would Gov. Corbett oppose clean water deliveries to Dimock?
“Because it looks like they're not doing a good job — which is the case,” says Iris Bloom, of the environmental group Protecting Our Waters. “Secretary Krancer is basically acting as a spokesperson for the industry instead of as a protector of the people of Pennsylvania.”
The water problem in Dimock was discovered on New Year's Day 2009, when Norma Fiorentino's water well exploded. The state Department of Environmental Protection found that 18 wells had been contaminated thanks to drilling by Cabot Oil and Gas and, in November 2009, came to an agreement with the company to supply water.
But all that changed with the election of Corbett, who received hefty campaign donations from natural gas companies. In November, DEP Secretary Krancer determined that Cabot had no further obligation to provide the people of Dimock with clean drinking water, on the condition that they install methane-mitigation devices at affected people's homes.
The National Resources Defense Council argued that such systems are "ineffective at removing the multifold contaminants now found in the Dimock water" and that the state "has done no independent testing of post-treatment water, and seems wholly unconcerned as to its potability."
On Dec. 1, 2011, Cabot stopped delivering clean water to Dimock, and the residents now depend on donated water.
“You can’t be playing with people lives like that,” says Dimock resident Craig Sautner, in a press release from Protecting Our Waters. “You can’t get our hopes up like this and dash them to pieces within a day. It’s like a roller coaster ride, and it’s time that this ride stopped. Cabot Oil and Gas took away our water and we want it back. People shouldn’t be without access to clean drinking water in their own homes. It’s time that they were held accountable for their actions. The EPA has a right and a responsibility to step in when it’s clear that the PA DEP has reneged on its duty to protect our rights as citizens.”
Will Daniel Denvir stop beating his wife? This "article" is full of innuendo, light on actual facts. Is the water safe or not? Many water supplies naturally have traces of methane in them. Any PPM levels? I smell agenda driven "journalism" here.— rudytbone- The EPA is a domestic terrorist organizaation. I have a feeling they'd find somethng even if it wasn't there.— crystalrainbowspirit1
- Why don't all of you start thinking beyond the Natural Gas Industry? Isn't it obvious you are all a bunch of brain washed parrots? I get so sick of hearing the same garbage out of your mouths. Get a life!— Karen45
- Here is a video I shot earlier this week on the situation in Dimock. It's a grim picture. http://youtu.be/vBcytoCLWgo— Scott Cannon
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