Faces of Dimock – October 15

There will be a public meeting,  “Faces of Dimock “, held at the Kingston Township Municipal Building, 180 E. Center Street, Shavertown. It starts at 7pm on Friday, October 15th. The guest speaker will be Craig Sautner, who has been seen at many events with his gallon jug of “Dimock Lemonade”, drawn from his contaminated well. He will talk about the events of the last two years, and their effects on his family. Those who attend will see and hear what it is like to live next to a “frack farm”, from a video interview taken at Ron and Jean Carter’s home. Parking is available at the rear of the building, and across the street at the athletic field.

How Natural Gas Drilling has Changed My Eating Habits by Molly M.

Following is a guest post from Molly M.  All are invited to submit:

I travelled to Dimock, PA, several weeks ago to see for myself what was going on at my neighbors to the north.  I was astounded to see gas drilling pads in many farm pastures.  On several sites, cows were being pastured and fed adjacent to the pads. I had read about cows being quarantined in Tioga County after they were suspected of drinking polluted flowback water.  In Washington County cows died after exposure to drilling fluids.  At Dunkard Creek, where all aquatic life died from an algae bloom caused by drilling, beef cows were photographed standing in orange-tainted water.  I have decided not to eat beef any more.  Every time I look at a steak, I see those cows standing next to a drill site.

My new discoveries opened my eyes to other concerns.  How about the farmers who were present at the farmers’ markets? Had they leased their lands?  If I knew for sure they had, I bypassed their stands.  I am also boycotting a restaurant next to a drill pad in Fairmount Township.

I began searching for alternative food sources and discovered the joys of shopping at the Lands at Hillside.  The folks who bought this wonderful farm from the old coal barons opted not to lease these lands.  Hooray!  Now I buy hormone-free milk, free range eggs, Hillside Gold butter, fresh ice cream, and other goodies.  Life is good, and my tummy agrees.

the threat of democracy

If this evil and blatant usury of our land is not stopped by our elected and sworn representatives by listening to reason, constituents, and the constitution – if they wimp out on their duty to make sure anything done to this state is done right or not at all; if this illegal attack supplants democracy – then democracy will be wrestled back, one way or another.

There will be thousands of gas wells drilled over the next two decades using slick water horizontal hydrofracking – the Back Mountain as Industrial Zone

Gas Drilling Will Bring You:
Lower Property Values
Higher Taxes
Polluted and Unusable Water Sources
Toxic Waste (heavy metals, carcinogens, brine and radioactive materials)
Open Waste Pits
Undisclosed Chemicals
Endocrine Disruptors
Carcinogens Left Underground
Air Pollution
Depleted Water Habitat
Noise Pollution
Eminent Domain
Loss of Farmland
Loss of Tourism
Disrupted Wildlife Habitat
Higher Crime Rate
Increased Drug Use
Choking Truck Traffic
Broken Roads
Increased Accidents
Lower Quality of Life (why do you love this place?)
Earth Shaking
Fractured Bedrock Below (where 10 to 30 tons of chemicals per well, liberated radioactivity, brine, and heavy metals are left underground to slowly migrate toward your family’s water supply)

Educate yourself and take action to stop this now! The first well is drilling this August. Don’t be fooled by the propaganda you see on television and billboards. 1.5% percent of the county households will benefit, 98.5% will suffer.

NOTE – Add on top of this: mismanagement, acts of nature, maximization of profit, and out of state corporations. Then mix in weakened laws and a depleted DEP. And put it all in the context of rapid expansion. Isn’t this a case for MORATORIUM!?

Reports from Cabot Patch World

Here is an editorial from the Daily Item, Cabot provides cautionary tale of drilling danger

And a firsthand report posted on Switchboard from a traveler to Dimock: Visiting Dimock, Seeing Gas Drilling’s Ugly Side Firsthand

And from this morning’s Citizen’s Voice, Families with tainted water reject driller’s plan for treatment

“A regulatory body does not have the authority to direct a private company to go into a privately owned home and install equipment, and if the resident refuses, deem that the company has fulfilled their obligation to provide permanent fresh water,”.

Cabot remains Arrogant

The Pennsylvania DEP posed as DEP for a day and it felt good to those of us who have been exceedingly frustrated about this juggernaut of stupidity that is the Marcellus Shale play. But looking more closely, it will be business as usual for the industry tomorrow, while a little section of the play gets some relief and corrective action. (“Corrective” as in, I screwed up your water supply but, reluctantly, here is a filter).

This is an example of the arrogance of Cabot Oil:

Kenneth Komoroski, a Cabot attorney and spokesman, said the company agreed to abide by the order, but it does not believe it failed to follow the first order and so sees no reason for the penalties or new demands.

“But in the interest of continuing to do our best to cooperate with the department, we did agree to those additional terms,” he said.

The company plans to shift its operations to other parts of Susquehanna County where it currently holds permits.

The overall impact to the company, he said, “will be somewhere between none and insignificant.”

Here is the full story – Gas company slapped with drilling ban and fine

Cabot Speak

This is excerpted from the news article: State: Energy firm contaminated well, spring

Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski said the company has not confirmed the source of the fluid, but has confirmed that “Cabot activities are not the source.”

Komoroski said Cabot checked with its “independent third-party consultant,” which concluded that “the observance of black water in the well did not and could not have occurred as a result of Cabot activities” based on “observation and extensive analytical testing.” He said the well and spring contained “total and fecal coliform, which is indicative of human or animal waste” and that “the materials that exist in the well in high concentrations don’t exist on Cabot locations.”

Asked if any of the materials Cabot uses were found in the well, Komoroski said the company does not yet have all analytical results from lab tests and a final report is still in draft form. DEP continues to investigate the incident and Cabot will continue to cooperate and support the department’s efforts, he said.

So let’s get this straight.  Cabot denies wrongdoing before  all the reports are in????….Oh I forgot (touch to the forehead) – the Halliburton loophole… sorry … there is really no way for me to ever know…  is there?  You made sure of that.

Not for long though, when democracy has its day.

Dispatch from Dimock

Herb. Sent you an article about another one of my neighbor’s water problems from the Times Leader. Not sure if I sent it right. It is like a war zone up here in Dimock. Helicopters hovering overhead all the time dropping their seismic testing “pods” – spooking my horses. Workers in the fields and woods stringing miles of seismic testing wire – trucks heavy equipment driving by constantly – dust – noise – skies lit up at night from the drilling rigs – constant noise from the drilling and fracking. Drillers park their chemical trucks next door here at work and I walk over sometimes and try to read the names of the chemical containers – can’t understand the names of the chemicals but they all have skull and crossbones next to them – what would one think that means! Sorry for the rant – just have to vent once in a while. Chuck.

More Fracadelia

Here is the incident du jour: Natural gas fire under control

Here is latest entry to About: I live in the Frances Slocum State Park area, but have been to Moon Lake many times. Anyplace where people can run, play, hike, swim, camp, learn, bike, and socialize reverberates through life like an endless smile. The gas it will be sacrificed for, will give but a few people its’ neon pleasure and leave the rest of us in debt and diminished. As far as the County is concerned, mismanagement begets mismanagement. It is like a lie.

At Gort42: Gort is a respected area blogger . (I suspect his real identity is 24 Torg.) Today/yesterday he wrote a post which was titled and about Moon Lake. A commenter on the post suggested that “the Commissioners consider selling the naming rights to the Park just as was done with the Arena.” Whether he was serious or tongue-in -cheek, his proposal got me to thinking…

Perhaps EnCanaLand or CabotPatch. There could be rides like the Drill Rigger,the Thumper Truck Junior, the Endocrine Disruptor, and the Radioactive Mud Slide. Kids could buy Candy Apple Hardhats. The pool would have special undisclosed chemicals. The grounds crew would pick up spills only if they were in plain sight. And of course, no venue would be complete without the fire breathing water fountains…

Public Meeting a Success!:
One hundred and ten people attended the education and awareness meeting sponsored by the GDAC (Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition). The Citizen’s Voice, Times Leader, and WNEP were there. State Senator Lisa Baker and State Representative Karen Boback were in attendance throughout the two hour meeting and spoke impromptu to the audience. (they both seem to be earnest and open but since I was the MC, I was unable to pay full attention to their remarks since I was in and out of the forum.) Also present was David Madiera who is the Republican primary candidate in the 10th Congressional District (Democrat Chris Carney’s seat). We spent a lively time afterward, in the parking lot with several others, debating and getting to know one another.

Vera Scroggins of Kingsley, PA spoke in front of a backdrop of original footage from Dimock shot by Audrey Simpson. She has been an outspoken champion of a saner humanscale approach by calling for an environmental impact study and a moratorium until said study is complete. She stirred the audience into resounding applause.

The evening began with a welcome by Pastor Earl Roberts who opened his facility to the public. The United Methodists are called to take environmental stewardship very seriously. Then Leanne Mazurick of GDAC presented the film Rural Impact . This film covered it all: increased crime, decreased property values, trashed unsafe roads, sick air, carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, environmental degradation, noise, corporate irresponsibility, on and on…

Also speaking was John Nowak of Sweet Valley, an owner of thirty acres refusing to sign. He presented his research on the actual employment impact of the “Gas Play”. Most jobs will be, and already are, for outsiders and extrapolated over time will net a pittance of actual full time jobs to locals.

Then Tom Jiunta (founder of Luzerne County Citizens for Clean Water) spoke about the various legislative, ordinance, and petition initiatives in progress. He then fielded questions from the audience. (Tom knows his stuff.) There was lively, honest, and spirited discussion and testimony.

Afterward there was coffee, more discussion, and petition signing/recruitment in the adjacent reception area. I spoke to an eighty-five year young man who was intending to move to his daughter’s home in Bethlehem. His local home was under contract to be sold but the offer was dropped once the prospective buyer found out the neighboring property was large and under lease. It was the first this man had known of it. Now he is stuck.

The realities are beginning to emerge.

Muchas Gracias to Cindy, Jeanette, Karen, and Leanne for organizing this meeting.

Later, standing in the evening air gazing at the big orange moon, I wondered about the naming rights to it…

Here is a more detailed coverage:

Citizen’s Voice – Natural Gas Meeting Draws Big Crowd

Here is television coverage:

WNEP – Residents in Luzerne County React to Gas Drilling

Fracktured News

Another wrist slap for blatant disregard: Drilling Without a Permit

A Tragedy:

Fatal Accident: Woman Killed in Tioga County Crash – Gas Drilling Truck Driver at Fault

an ironic juxtaposition which I had read just the day before the accident: A Sobering Journey to an Inspiring Conference

Janine Dymond of the local Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition is featured in this article: Despite outcry, county eyes Moon Lake Park drilling as money-maker

Good news for starving and homeless lawyers! link here

A Nationwide Petition: SEE PETITION HERE:

More!More!More! 26 wells drilled in Bradford County in February

Letter from the Fields of Factories:

Dear Rep. Pickett, The roads in Dimock continue to deteriorate on a daily basis due to the heavy truck traffic generated by the operations of Cabot Oil & Gas Co. Repairs being made are not keeping up with the pace of damage. I observe drivers on a daily basis swerving into oncoming traffic to avoid entire sections of missing roadway. This issue needs to be addressed before someone gets injured. Cabot’s operations have been suspended by the State in the past due to environmental violations. The State should take immediate action to order Cabot’s vehicle’s off our roads until they repair them. Our citizens health and safety should not be put at risk due to the profit motivated operations of this company. Charles Winschuh, Dimock Township.