Legalectric

A while back, in Dimock, PA, a woman’s well blew up just a little down the road from where they were doing gas drilling… funny how that works.  Now it seems they’re admitting a relationship between the two, and are giving people water, those who took their water, shook it up, and LIT IT!  They “just felt unsafe,” yeah, I guess…  It seems it’s taking a LONG time for anything to happen here.

“Dimock residents, meanwhile, are learning what it’s like to live over the middle of a developing natural gas field.”

From: Wells tested, cause of explosion sought in gas exploration in Susquehanna County

Yeah, just a bit of an understatement…

Breaking news: Gas mining company provides water after methane found in private wells

By Laura Legere
STAFF WRITER

Published: Thursday, January 22, 2009 12:47 PM EST

DIMOCK TWP. — Cabot Oil and Gas installed fresh water supplies this week at four residences where methane has been found in private water wells.

The company, which is extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale in the region, also hired a water well installer to inspect wells at two additional residences today where the state Department of Environmental Protection has found a “significant presence” of gas, a Cabot spokesman said.

The actions come as part of an ongoing investigation into the cause of an explosion that blew apart a concrete slab above a water well in a township resident’s front yard on Jan. 1. In the weeks since the blast, DEP, Cabot and the local fire department have inspected about a dozen homes for the presence of gas and have taken samples from at least six wells that indicated gas in vapor form had gathered in the well casings. So far, no gas has been discovered in homes or basements.

The Cabot spokesman, Kenneth Komoroski, said the company decided to install temporary water tanks at the four homes after hearing reports that residents were able to light gas vapors– causing a “puff of flame”– after they captured, shook, then uncapped a bottle of their well water.

“The residents all had a concern about using the water and just felt unsafe, so we decided to supply them with a water supply while we investigate the situation,” he said.

The Department of Environmental Protection has not determined the provenance of the gas in the water wells, but Mr. Komoroski said “Cabot is not ruling out the possibility that its activities could have caused or contributed to the presence of gas in the water supply.”

DEP is currently analyzing laboratory results for both water and gas samples taken by department inspectors this month, DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said this week. The analysis may reveal the geology where the gas originated.

Mr. Komoroski said Cabot has hired a hydro-geologist to help evaluate how gas might be migrating into the water supply. Cabot crews are also working on a gas well site today near the four affected homes on Carter Road “to evaluate whether or not that’s a pathway,” Mr. Komoroski said.

“We felt it best to take a step back and take a comprehensive look,” he said.

This is the kind of thing that Nancy Prehn gets worried about, living atop a 7 billion cubic foot gas storage dome… things that go boom in the night!  Yes, you guessed it, there’s natural gas drilling just down the road…

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO (and dig the cute “Mr. Sparky” ad)

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Search For Cause of Well Explosion

Norma Fiorentino of Dimock Township looks over the big hole left on her property after an explosion in her well.

By Norm Jones

A mysterious explosion has left a woman from Susquehanna County without water and state officials scratching their heads.

Norma Fiorentino said her place near Dimock is bone dry thanks to an explosion in her well on New Year’s Day.  The woman believes drilling for natural gas in the area could be part of the problem.

Officials from Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection performed tests at the Fiorentino home on Monday, but it will take some time for them to get results back.

“DEP did take a sample of the water,” said an anxious Fiorentino.  “They’re going to get back to me in a couple of days on the water, whether I can drink it or not.  They think there might be gas in the water.”

Officials from Cabot Oil and Gas said they have never seen a natural gas operation thousands of feet away cause an explosion on a water well.  Workers from the company investigated the explosion but said they didn’t find any sign of natural gas. The same goes for area fire officials who also conducted tests on the Fiorentino property.

Norma Fiorentino said she isn’t satisfied with the negative test results.

“(You) just don’t have an explosion like that for nothing,” she said.  “I just want to know what caused it, and is it safe to stay here.”