Image: A Dimock, Pennsylvania resident who did not want to be identified pours a glass of water taken from his well after the start of natural gas drilling in Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 7, 2009. Dimock is one of hundreds of sites in Pennsylvania where energy companies have raced to tap the massive Marcellus Shale natural gas formation. Residents say the drilling has clouded their drinking water, sickened people and animals and made their wells flammable. Picture taken March 7, 2009.
Over the weekend, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reversed a commitment to deliver safe water to residents of Dimock, PA, a small village where natural gas drilling operations have poisoned water supplies. Why? So far, federal officials won’t explain why.
Only 24 hours after promising them water, EPA officials informed residents of Dimock that a tanker truck wouldn’t be coming after all. The about-face left residents furious, confused and let down — and, once again, scrambling for water for bathing, washing dishes and flushing toilets.
Federal Agency Cancels Water Delivery to Pa. Town – ABC News.
In ProPublica’s extensive reporting series on fracking in America, Dimock has been mentioned often. Christopher Bateman’s 2010 Vanity Fair piece on fracking in rural Pennsylvania is another good read, and focuses on Dimock.
Here’s an interesting video produced by an environmental group in 2010 that shows an aerial tour of Dimock, noting fracking sites visible at that time.
