Pennsylvania lifts ban on gas production in polluted village of Dimock

Submitted by Extreme_Qwerty t3_zkhc48 in Pennsylvania

One of Pennsylvania's largest drillers will be allowed to extract natural gas from underneath a rural Pennsylvania community where it has been banned for a dozen years because of accusations it polluted the water supply, according to a settlement with state regulators.

The Department of Environmental Protection quietly lifted its long-term moratorium on gas production in Dimock, a small village in northeastern Pennsylvania that gained national notoriety when residents were filmed lighting their tap water on fire.

The agency’s agreement with Houston-based Coterra Energy Inc. is dated Nov. 29 — the same day Coterra pleaded no contest in a high-profile criminal case accusing the company of allowing methane to leak uncontrolled into Dimock’s aquifer. State officials denied that Coterra was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor charge in exchange for being allowed to drill for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gas.

https://www.wesa.fm/environment-energy/2022-12-12/pennsylvania-lifts-ban-on-gas-production-in-polluted-village-of-dimock

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through_the_keyhole t1_izzwdft wrote

This reads like r/nottheonion. Pennsylvania doin' Pennsylvania things.

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Varolyn t1_j00dvtg wrote

Wouldn't surprise me if within the next 10 years, Pennsylvania reopens the ever-burning mines of Centralia to "create jobs."

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kingbloop t1_j00vpdd wrote

There are multiple active stripping pits in Centralia right now. Multiple coal companies own land there. The veins that aren't burning and aren't actually in the center of 'town' are still being mined.

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jsach3 t1_j0185ih wrote

And as the remaining residents die and the fires move outward, the veins in the center of ‘town’ will be mined accordingly.

Welcome to Coal Country. If it’s there, it won’t be for long.

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GraffitiTavern t1_j00b7zx wrote

That was one big reason I became an environmental scientist. I grew up in a rural area off of a well, one of my biggest fears was they would find natural gas in the area because if anything got into our water my life would be OVER. This is so shitty and whoever approved the new drilling needs to be ashamed.

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Extreme_Qwerty OP t1_j00l3yr wrote

Who do you think approved it? My guess would be Gov. Wolf.

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Thecrawsome t1_j01i11s wrote

If you read your own article you'd be able to answer that.

>In an interview Friday, Wolf said he was satisfied with his administration’s decision to allow Coterra to go back into Dimock, “as long as they do what we need them to do with the new water supply and the pipes.” He said the company had to abide by “some pretty stringent guidelines.”

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Fuzzy_South_4260 t1_j039f77 wrote

Reminds me of Bill Clinton selling us down the river on NAFTA, when he was leaving office.

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Aggravating_Public46 t1_j040oas wrote

You mean Bill Clinton AND the Newt Gingrich led, Republican House that had been pushing for NAFTA for years prior. Give credit where credit is due.

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Fuzzy_South_4260 t1_j06dpke wrote

Pieces of shit that they are, sold us down the river, with the help of the union leaders

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Aggravating_Public46 t1_j08p97a wrote

Not sure where you got your info, but union leaders never supported NAFTA. Strictly supported by the greedy Clinton and the greedy Republicans. USW even sued to stop NAFTA.

https://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/251945882/what-has-nafta-meant-for-workers-that-debates-still-raging

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Fuzzy_South_4260 t1_j0gpmza wrote

I lived through it. It was a mad dash for cash, every greedy bastard jumped on board. I recollect the unions setting up shop in Mexico right in step with the auto industry. So publicly, they didn't like it but were chasing the $$$$$.

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Aggravating_Public46 t1_j0il4iq wrote

"Setting up shop?" - this makes no sense. What benefit did the unions have in supporting NAFTA knowing that the auto factories were going away to Mexico and utilizing non-union labor? There would be NO benefit. If you could provide some evidence that union leaders supported NAFTA maybe that would clear things up. Otherwise, I have to think you got the facts mixed up.

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w00dm4n t1_j00poqa wrote

no...can't be...he would never? He's one of the 5 planeteers that can summon Captain Planet

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Mortico t1_j03xic3 wrote

Money approved it. Lots of money.

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Stonecutter_12-83 t1_izzvpov wrote

I worked for Halliburton when they were in Dimock and damn did they hate us. I'm pretty sure that was even our Blender they showed in the movie Gasland.

On a seperate job while working in Dimock we spilled a shit load of gel because the drilling company designed the pad wrong and they blew up a bunch of hoses.

That place is cursed

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burritoace t1_j01dsv1 wrote

Sounds like the drilling companies suck and the residents were right to hate you for destroying their home

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8Draw t1_j01mjbf wrote

Please dump as much info as you're willing to share.

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Pink_Slyvie t1_j00ofrd wrote

It's a catch-22 as it stands. We need to tackle climate change, this is going to be super expensive, but we could heat every house in the country on renewable electric within the decade if we put resources into it.

Alas, the population, even the Democrats, aren't willing to put in the effort to make that change, so we need to keep pulling NG. Politics will cost us the planet.

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Hazel1928 t1_j02ok74 wrote

I disagree that we could use all renewables. Nuclear has much less environmental impact. The correct path is to switch all our fossil fuels to natural gas. Use natural gas until we can build fission. By the time we get the fission built, hopefully we can build fusion.

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Pink_Slyvie t1_j02psyi wrote

We could use all renewables. It would take a shift in our energy usage habits, but it's very obtainable.

Even things like properly insulating all homes would be massive, making it so the vast, vast majority of US homes would not need heating at night to stay comfortable.

Really all that would need constant power is refrigeration, creature comforts, and emergency services. This is obtainable with different energy storage methods, and If we hold to capitalism, increasing electric rates in the evening.

Yes, there are countless exceptions, but they are in the minority and we can adjust to them.

Yes, nuclear is an option to, but it should be a stopgap for now to go renewable. Fission might come, it might not. Plan for what we have, not what might be.

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Aggravating_Public46 t1_j0414eh wrote

Big news today about fusion. Applied fusion is years away but has been made in a lab in England.

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Pink_Slyvie t1_j042aa4 wrote

Tests still need verified, and even if it's valid (fingers crossed), it won't be ready until it's too late to prevent catastrophic climate collapse. To prevent said collapse, we need to stop burning fossil fuels by checking notes, about 1970.....

Funny say of saying it aside, we won't prevent it at this point. Now we can just hope to mitigate it before it's to late. Humans aren't good at fixing problems that need fixed now to prevent issues decades away.

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Mor_Tearach t1_j01mvr5 wrote

Husband retired environmental chemist said " Someone slipped someone a 20 ". Guessing that's pretty much the gist of the story.

One of the prettiest states in the country. And it's being sold off.

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Fuzzy_South_4260 t1_j06dljc wrote

Funny you say that. Check with DCNR, they are sitting on their largest nest egg ever because of fracking

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JAK3CAL t1_j021dwv wrote

This is really worth watching. Especially around the 16 minute mark for a few minutes.

It’s one of the basis of my family’s current move. One of the largest frack pads in the country is currently under construction directly behind my house (think feet, not miles). We have no city water out here. We are downhill from this site. We have no lease and no protection.

After watching this documentary, my wife turned and looked at me and said “wow… you’ve become ray.” That’s when I knew it was time to move. I don’t want to be the next Ray. I want to enjoy my life with my new child, peacefully. So goodbye PA ✌️

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ktp806 t1_j02c60i wrote

I live in the host town of the largest landfill on the east coast. My taxes were just raised 23 %. The billionaire is laughing all the way to HIS bank. Btw the same bank that was mixed up with the kids for cash scandal. The landfill is smelling SwEeT today. FU EPA

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Fstmiddy t1_j00heo4 wrote

God dammit, I knew the settlement was a "too good to be true" moment.

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IamSauerKraut t1_j00et68 wrote

Company provides water and filtering system in exchange for ability to extract the gas. Not the best solution but it helps everyone move on.

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