Contaminated wells spark controversy

DEP cites Cabot drilling operations; Cabot calls conclusion ‘premature’

By SANDY LONG

DIMOCK, PA — Until gas drilling began, residents of Dimock Township lived in fairly quiet obscurity in rural Susquehanna County. But when water wells along Carter Road became contaminated with methane, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) stepped in, garnering the attention of citizens, activist groups, other state agencies and regional and national media.

The spotlight intensified recently when the DEP issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) on February 27, charging that Cabot Oil and Gas Company’s drilling operations have caused one of the most troubling potential side effects of drilling—the contamination of fresh groundwater.

Specifically, the NOV notes, “During the course of our investigation, the department has documented that Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation is responsible for the following violations of the Clean Streams Law:”

• “Our investigation revealed that Cabot has caused or allowed the unpermitted discharge of natural gas, a polluting substance, to waters of the Commonwealth.

• Our investigation revealed that Cabot has caused or allowed gas from lower formations to enter fresh groundwater.”

Cabot was also charged with failure to submit records and completion reports on a dozen wells, but Cabot maintains that the reports were filed on January 22, and DEP spokesperson Freda Tarbell confirmed on March 16 that the agency has received the reports.

The DEP has asked Cabot to install methane gas detectors in nine residences and to continue supplying alternate water sources to four residences. The company was also asked to submit a plan to resolve the violations by March 13 and to meet with DEP officials to discuss Cabot’s current and future drilling program in Pennsylvania.

Cabot responded by the Friday deadline with a letter from vice president and regional manager Thomas Liberatore, indicating Cabot’s willingness to continue investigating concerns. The letter specifies that Cabot hired an environmental consulting firm, SE Technologies, to “evaluate the concerns raised,” and has offered to provide a summary of the findings next month.

Cabot will also continue supplying water and monitoring gas levels in wells and homes. It will install residential aeration units in three homes as a pilot test. For existing wells, the company will install additional cement in bore holes to create another barrier against the migrating gas, and has put in place a modified casing and cementing plan for new wells.

The letter calls the DEP’s contamination conclusion “premature,” adding that “Cabot does not agree that the department has documented that Cabot is responsible for violations.”

Cabot has not yet agreed to install methane detectors in the nine homes requested by DEP. Cabot spokesman Kenneth Komoroski said the company has not ruled out the possibility. “We haven’t refused the request,” said Komoroski. “But there may be better ways to address the problem and we’ll be meeting with the DEP to discuss that.”

The meeting will be held during the first week of April. Cabot will propose alternative approaches it believes will better resolve safety concerns.

While some have charged that the DEP’s permitting and monitoring processes are too restrictive and not supportive of the economic opportunities associated with natural gas extraction, others say the agency’s efforts are appropriate or even inadequate. In a recent interview in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, DEP acting secretary John Hanger defended the agency’s approach by saying, “We do not come to work to put people out of business. The old sense that you have to sacrifice the environment to have a healthy economy is yesterday’s world.”