6,000 people signed a petition asking New York’s Governor to strengthen state regulations before more drilling occurs.
6,000 sign petition asking DEC to strengthen natural gas-drilling regulations
But the following report about muddy water after a Chesapeake fracking is what caught my eye.
One of those people is Laurie Lytle, a resident of Varick, Seneca County, who signed a gas lease with Chesapeake shortly after buying her home near Geneva in September 2006. By fall 2007, Chesapeake was drilling and hydro-fracturing (fracking) a vertical well in the Queenston formation, 660 feet from Lytle’s property line, according to Lytle and a DEC representative.
The morning after the fracking occurred, Lytle said she was surprised to discover that her water was gray and full of sediment. She said she contacted Chesapeake and they told her it would stop in three to four days once the ground settled. After three days, Lytle said the sediment was gone, but the water was still cloudy. She contacted Chesapeake again and they agreed to install a water filter on her well.
Lytle kept copies of the check and invoice made out to her and her husband, signed by Chesapeake and describing the purpose of the money as “Damages.”
Representatives from Chesapeake were unable to respond to questions about Lytle’s complaint by press time Tuesday.
And Chesapeake never reported the fracked up frack job.
“This really underscores that these problems are occurring, even though the DEC has said they’ve never had a single fracking incident. And it’s not at all clear what these companies have to do as far as disclosing these problems, and it’s not at all clear what they have to test for or do about them,” he said.
Sure is easy to claim there’s no contaminated water if water contamination never gets reported. I wonder how often that happens.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
- Web |
- More Posts(5121)
That's quite a dirty trick, for a driller can ignore getting baseline well tests before drilling, then claim "prove we did it" if anything gets stirred up by drilling.