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Driller charged over contamination in ‘Gasland’ town of Dimock

The grand jury cited Cabot’s “long-term indifference to the damage it caused to the environment and citizens of Susquehanna County.”

  • Michael Rubinkam/Associated Press
Protesters stand in front of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Two families were awarded a total of $2.24 million by a federal jury on Thursday.

 Jacqueline Larma / AP Photo

Protesters stand in front of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Two families were awarded a total of $2.24 million by a federal jury on Thursday.

(Harrisburg) — An energy company faces felony charges for polluting residential water wells in a Pennsylvania community that has long been a battleground in the national debate over natural gas drilling and fracking.

Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. was charged Monday following a grand jury investigation that found the company failed to fix faulty gas wells in Dimock and surrounding communities that leaked methane into residential water supplies.

“We find that, over a period of many years, and despite mounting evidence, Cabot Oil & Gas failed to acknowledge and correct conduct that polluted Pennsylvania water through stray gas migration,” the grand jury wrote in its report. The grand jury cited Cabot’s “long-term indifference to the damage it caused to the environment and citizens of Susquehanna County.”

Matt Rourke / Associated Press

Ray Kemble of Dimock, displays a jug of what he identifies as his contaminated well water in this August 2013 file photo.

The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office charged Cabot with a total of 15 criminal counts, including illegal discharge of industrial wastes and unlawful conduct under the state’s Clean Streams Law. Maximum fines are $50,000 or $25,000, depending on the count.

The company has long insisted the gas in Dimock’s aquifer is naturally occurring, saying its pre-drill testing of thousands of private water wells in the area show a high percentage with methane.

A Cabot spokesperson said the company was preparing a statement on the criminal charges.

Methane, an odorless, colorless gas, is common in Pennsylvania groundwater. It can emanate from swamps, landfills, coal mines and gas wells. Methane is not toxic to humans, but at high concentrations it can lead to asphyxiation or cause an explosion.

It was an exploding water well on New Year’s Day 2009 that first aroused public attention in Dimock, a patchwork of homes and farms about 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of Philadelphia.

Dimock became a battleground for pro- and anti-drilling forces after state regulators found that Cabot — one of the biggest drillers in the vast Marcellus Shale gas field — had contaminated 18 residential wells with methane.

Homeowners sued, accusing the company of polluting their water with toxic chemicals and methane.

The village was featured in the Emmy Award-winning 2010 documentary “Gasland,” which showed residents lighting their tap water on fire. Drilling supporters have long accused Dimock residents of seeking money and attention.

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