In May of 2010, The Daily Star sent former reporter Tom Grace and photographer Brit Worgan to Dimock, a rural town of about 1,400 people in northern Pennsylvania.
We wanted to see the effects the pursuit of natural gas had on the lives of residents in drill-happy Pennsylvania before the heavy equipment invaded our part of the huge Marcellus Shale territory.
While there was little doubt that some in the small village benefited financially from the visitors and business generated by the drilling practice known as horizontal hydrofracturing _ or fracking _ what our story and photos revealed was beyond disturbing.
There was so much methane in Dimock that some folks could turn on the faucet and light their water on fire.
Grace spoke to Dimock resident Norma Fiorentino, whose two water wells on her 2.9 acres couldn't produce drinkable water anymore. Then, on New Year's Day in 2009, one of her wells exploded.
"I was at my daughter's for dinner," she said. "Lucky thing I wasn't here."
A gas well drilled by Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. just off her property had leaked methane, which contaminated the ground water and migrated into her well, she said.
Pennsylvania has found that at least 18 residential water wells have been polluted.
Cabot had been forced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deliver drinking water to Dimock residents until several weeks ago, when the EPA gave it permission to stop.
The citizens of Dimock were understandably concerned about whether they would have clean water for drinking, bathing, doing their dishes, washing their clothes and flushing their toilets.
The EPA promised to send a tanker truck filled with water, then reneged.
"We are actively filling information gaps and determining next steps in Dimock," EPA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said in an email to The Associated Press. "We have made no decision at this time to provide water."
That is just the kind of governmental gobbledygook that drives Americans crazy.
Water Defense, an environmental group, said Sunday it would send a water tanker to Dimock, but there is a much longer-term issue to be decided right here in our area.
Do we want to be another Dimock?
For goodness sakes, doesn't the fact that those poor people have to have water shipped in at all give damning evidence that all the fracking industry's promises of safe drilling are just hot air?
Or, more accurately, methane?
We have some of the sweetest water and cleanest air in all of the United States.
They have to ship clean water into Dimock, Pa.
That's really all we need to know.
Opinion
Learning a lesson in Dimock
- Opinion
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In Memoriam
This message appears each Memorial Day weekend in The Daily Star.
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Letters to the Editor: May 26, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 25, 2012
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Facebook’s fizzle was no surprise
Facebook’s IPO last week was supposed to be a moment of triumph for the social network, but the event quickly devolved into an ugly tale of duplicity, hubris and greed, as the stock lost 18 percent of its value in the first two days of trading.
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Letters to the Editor: May 24, 2012
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Heegan must show vision for Chamber
In selecting Barbara Ann Heegan as its executive director last week, the Otsego County Chamber would seem to have chosen a safe rather than a bold path for its immediate future.
- Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 23, 2012
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Can't have a third party without a candidate
What if they gave a party ... and nobody came?
- Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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Cheers
To Bike to Work Day, Cooperstown Quiz Team, Arts Field Day, the SUNY Delhi Centennial.
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Letters to the Editor: May 22, 2012
- Monday, May 21, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 21, 2012
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The world does move
To look at a newspaper from 1912, 1937, 1962 or 1987, it can seem as though positively everything has changed.
- Saturday, May 19, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 19, 2012
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Graduates, take acquired skills, set sail on job voyage
This weekend, many colleges and universities -- including SUNY Delhi and SUNY Oneonta -- will bestow degrees of various levels and types upon their students.
- Friday, May 18, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 18, 2012
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'Whale' failure shows how little has changed
One positive development resulting from JPMorgan's recent $2 billion trading blunder is increased scrutiny of the regulations put in place since 2008 to prevent a repeat of that year's financial collapse.
- Thursday, May 17, 2012
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Taxes spoke louder than sentiment in voting
It has become a virtually immutable fact of modern-day industry and politics. Given the choice between financial interest and sentiment, money always wins.
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Letters to the Editor: May 17, 2012
- Wednesday, May 16, 2012
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Letters to the Editor: May 16, 2012
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Gas companies need to play nice with residents
"You need to assure me that you are going to talk to the towns." This was Rep. Chris Gibson's plea to the gas companies that are seeking to lay natural gas pipelines through the local area.
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In Memoriam
