EPA says Dimock water safe, but Cabot still can’t drill there

EPA says Dimock water safe, but Cabot still can’t drill there by Mike Soraghan, July 26, 2012, E&E News
The action, however, does not change state officials’ case against Cabot Oil and Gas for contaminating water wells in the community with methane. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection still has not cleared Cabot to drill in areas of Dimock Township where it ordered wells shut down in 2009. “There are real impacts from gas drilling, and we should focus on those, such as methane migration and methane leaks.” DEP testing found “thermogenic” — as opposed to naturally occurring — gas at 18 properties. DEP fined the company and eventually negotiated a $4.1 million settlement in which all the affected homeowners got at least two times the value of their home and kept any mineral rights. … “EPA’s investigation does not include an evaluation of the risk posed by elevated levels of methane — which continue to exist in some homes in Dimock — and which, at extreme levels and if unaddressed, can lead to explosions,”

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