By Scott Lauffer
A bipartisan group of elected officials from across New York joined actor Mark Ruffalo and Gasland director, Josh Fox in Dimock, Pa., recently to announce the delivery of emergency water aid to families suffering from fracking-related water contamination.
In what has become a pivotal showdown in the national controversy over the safety of fracking, a 5,700-gallon water truck delivered clean water sourced from the New York City watershed to 11 affected households. The Sierra Club paid for the delivery.
In press conferences held in Manhattan as well as Dimock, speakers from national and local environmental groups also called on Pennsylvania Inspector General Kenya Mann to investigate undue influence on Pennsylvania regulators, and appealed to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to intervene in the case.
Clean water deliveries to the Dimock residents ceased on November 30 with approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Protection (DEP), despite the DEP's findings earlier this year that Cabot Oil and Gas, the drilling company operating in Dimock, was at fault for the contamination. Since 2008 the well water of several residents has been contaminated with toxic chemicals, flammable gas, and radioactive material.
Affected residents have complained of health problems after bathing in and drinking the water, which contains unsafe quantities of methane gas, heavy metals, radioactive material, and toxic chemicals such as ethylene glycol - otherwise known as antifreeze.
Despite dreary and wet December weather, it was moving and impressive to see a crowd of more than 100 gather alongside a dirt road to rally around the victims of Pennsylvania's most notorious fracking case, just across the New York border. The crowd came to support the 11 families, including the Sautners, who have have lacked clean drinking water for three years. A large tent was set up for the attendees. A huge collection of bottled water had been left in their front yard. Numerous signs around the property read, “Water for Dimock,” “Occupy a Free World,” and “It’s a Crime to Poison Us.” Signs for hanging around necks read, “This Space is Occupied” or “Crime Pays for Banks and Frackers.”
Many environmental activists and leaders, including President Robin Mann of the Sierra Club, mixed with other concerned citizens, Dimock residents and their friends. The well-organized rally got good press coverage.
Mann and others delivered a constant, thoughtful level of criticism against those who have exploited these families. Mann spoke about the need for alternative energy. Craig Sautner said he was overwhelmed by the support residents received.
The Pennsylvania DEP had previously ordered Cabot to provide regular deliveries of replacement water to the affected residents, and planned the construction of a water pipeline from a nearby town, but the DEP later scrapped the pipeline plans during the transition to Governor Tom Corbett’s administration. Corbett received $1.6 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, out of the $747 million campaign cash and lobbying expenditures spent by the oil and gas industry on Pennsylvania state and Congressional elected officials according to Common Cause PA.
Cabot says it opposes efforts by out-of-state individuals and representatives of national organizations who it says are attempting to dictate decisions to the Dimock community. Cabot doesn’t acknowledge that it is the disadvantaged residents themselves who invited help from others. To categorize the Sierra Club as an outsider ignores the fact that the Club has a presence and interest in Pennsylvania’s environment and the health of its citizens. And the Susquehanna watershed is shared by Pennsylvania and New York.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been prohibited from regulating hydraulic fracturing operations because of loopholes and exemptions for the gas industry, but earlier this year EPA Administrator Jackson vowed before Congress that “EPA will step in to protect local residents if a driller jeopardizes clean water and the state government does not act.”
In calling on the EPA to intervene, advocates cited a recent incident in which Craig Sautner was threatened with arrest by the DEP simply for calling the agency to ask for help. In recent days Dimock residents have also accused local elected officials of collusion with industry, citing the rejection of a mutual aid agreement proposed by Matt Ryan, mayor of Binghamton. He attempted to deliver clean water to the affected residents. But Dimock Township supervisors rejected the offer of assistance after a meeting with Cabot officials and a pro-industry advocacy group, in an apparent violation of Pennsylvania ethics laws.
The fight to make Cabot accountable has deeply split the town. One gets the clear sense that many wish the affected residents would just shut up and go away. Forget that they have never been properly compensated and that they still have contaminated water after three years. “Enough already” is a phrase bantered about by the unsympathetic.
Pressure by both Cabot and its local supporters made the DEP reverse a decision to install a $12 million pipeline to bring in fresh water. Sautner is aghast that other local residents would object to providing his family with clean water. So is Craig Stevens, who spoke at the rally and was not sky about calling out names of other residents who opposed efforts to fight Cabot; he listed the royalties they received from Cabot. Stevens’ property is not affected by the contamination but he separates himself from the “enough already” crowd and feels that he can’t stay on the sidelines and not speak up in defense of the victims on Carter Road.
Many in the area are glad to have the extra money from natural gas production, and don’t want a company like Cabot pulling up stakes. This shows the worst side of corporate power in a small community; it can create intense friction, adversely affecting residents’ quality of life.
Speaking out at City Hall
At the City Hall press conference in Manhattan, speakers vowed to continue water aid to Dimock and demand accountability from both Cabot and the DEP.
“This past summer I took a trip to Dimock to see with my own eyes the effects that fracking has had on Pennsylvania property owners,” said New York State Senator Greg Ball (R-40). “I visited families who had their drinking water contaminated…and who saw the values of their homes drop by 90 percent. It is imperative that clean drinking water be brought to our neighbors in Dimock. Here in New York, I am working diligently to make sure proper regulations are put in place to prevent big gas companies from doing the same thing to our homes and landscape.”
“Water is a universal necessity and a right,” said Mark Ruffalo, actor and founder of WaterDefense.org. “It’s downright shameful that the state agency that is supposed to protect the health and well-being of citizens would instead protect the corporation that caused this devastation. Thankfully, citizens from across this region and the country are stepping forward to help the residents of Dimock.”
“What is happening in Dimock is a clear example of how natural gas companies will recklessly cut corners and risk the health of families and communities for the sake of profit,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “As Pennsylvania’s state leadership fails to hold Cabot Corp. accountable for poisoning Dimock’s drinking water, the Sierra Club will be there to help support the people of Dimock and expose corporate polluters like Cabot for putting profits before people.”
“We need…EPA to join us in asking that Tom Corbett and PA DEP be investigated by the PA inspector general for corruption and violation of the state constitution,” said Gasland Director Josh Fox in a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Scott Lauffer is a member of the Susquehanna Group.