The UK Guardian tells US that it may be hard to find votes for either Trump or Harris in this small Pennsylvania village (pop. 1200) since both have gone out of their way to endorse fracking. Dimock has the misfortune of sitting atop the most prolific gas reservoir in the United States, One Texas company, Coterra Energy Inc. is drilling down 7,000ft into the Marcellus shale formation to reach an estimated 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas worth about $3.9 billion. Dimock is unfortunate because the process of enhanced recovery using a cocktail of chemicals, water and sand has polluted the town's water supply, released toxins into the air and brought radioactive waste to the surface. Drilling is banned from the town center but laterals that bend horizontally from the wellhead snake beneath 80 Dimock properties. Hydraulic pressure and caustic chemicals are forced into the boreholes to literally shatter the shale and release natural gas, which is a highly potent greenhouse gas.
Fracking is a divisive issue in Pennsylvania with many people supporting gas development for its beneficial economic impact. Many want the process banned for its undeniably adverse environmental and health impacts. In 2020 then Attorney General Josh Shapiro brought an indictment of eight felony charges against Coterra Energy Inc., then known as Cabot before a merger, for endangering the town's drinking water. The case was settled out of court with the company agreeing to plea to a single misdemeanor and build a $16 million waterline for the town. Not uncoincidentally the state's department of environmental protection lifted a ban on Coterra from drilling in the area for more than a decade after it fground d that the company had contaminated 19 private water wells that turned drinking water into a brown sludge. A notable documentary on fracking, Gasland, shows residents igniting their tap water polluted with natural gas.
Despite the obvious threat to public health and a state constitutional provision that guarantees
Pennsylvanian's right to “clean air, pure water and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment” now Democratic Governor Shapiro is unapologetic about his support for the gas industry in his state. A spokesperson called him an "all of the above" energy governor. Vice President Kamala Harris supported banning fracking in her 2016 run for the Democratic nomination. But in her debate with Olde Trump, she said she had changed her position on the issue, and would not ban fracking. Since the process has not changed, nor its recognized adverse impacts, Pennsylvania's role as a key swing state with 19 electoral votes must weigh heavily in her shift on the issue.
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| contaminated Dimock well water |
A consulting engineer for affected residents said that the fracking operations are much larger now using millions of gallons of water, and although monitoring of water contamination has been put in place, and old wells plugged, no company can guarantee new wells will not leak. "Once wells are drilled, they will leak", according to the Cornell University environmental engineer. "The nine square miles of Dimock is a goldmine of natural gas...When you look at the people of Dimock, you see pain and uncertainty in their eyes."
A resident of Dimock for thirty years and an active fracking opponent, Ray Kimble, told the Guardian,“Sure as hell, I’m not voting for either of those two assholes,” referring to the two major party presidential candidates. Kimble will leave his home of thirty years because of the water, which now resembles odiferous brown mud. He donated his home to a non-profit research group that will test the water, plants, and soil to inform new legislative proposals. A 2016 federal study found unhealthy levels of cadmium, lead, arsenic and copper in 27 Dimock homes, with 17 in danger of exploding because of leaked gas build-up. Said Kimble, "...there's going to be a scientist behind every tree. I'm tired of all the bullshit, all the stories, and all the f**ing crap. I want the hell out of here." Tell that to Kamala.