Gas Boom a Bust for Mt. Pleasant Man
Washington, PA Observer-Reporter
4 October 2009
By Christie Campbell, Staff Writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com
HICKORY - All Ron Gulla wanted was some free gas for his home. Instead,
his life is far different than it was four years ago, when gas wells
were drilled on his property.
"They have changed the world I once knew. Nothing is the same,
nothing," he said from his farm in Mt. Pleasant Township where Range
Resources has drilled four natural gas wells.
Gulla has yet to receive the free gas he claims was promised to him
when he signed a lease with the drilling company. He has been told his
gas is too wet to adequately burn in a home furnace. He refers to
company representatives as "liars."
"Once you sign a lease, you've signed your land over to them. You've
signed the rights of your land over to them, and they can do whatever
the hell they want to do," he said.
Gulla is in litigation with Range. A company spokesman said the lawsuit
involves the sale of his property, not damage to it.
Gulla claims things started to go wrong as soon as the company began
site preparation in July 2005. Access roads he said he was never told
would be built suddenly appeared. Drilling has led to erosion that has
ruined his chances of farming. He contends chemicals from
hydrofracturing have damaged a large pond, and pointed out where
vegetation that used to grow in abundance died this year. The water
also has taken on a greenish hue.
Matt Pitzarella, a Range Resource spokesman, said Gulla's pond has been
tested by the state Department of Environmental Protection and no
contaminates have been found. Further, Pitzarella said, the company had
a sales agreement with Gulla to purchase his property for $1.5 million,
but Gulla backed out of the deal and now is trying to divert attention
from that. Gulla said Range ruined the agreement when it offered him
another farm but failed to add that it was slated for drilling.
Gulla said he wants people to know oil and gas drillers are exempt from
certain federal legislation designed to safeguard clean air and water.
In January, environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for failing to keep pace with gas and
oil drilling by not updating clean air regulations under the Clean Air
Act. Other groups are urging passage of the Fracturing Responsibility
and Awareness of Chemicals, or FRAC, Act to close loopholes in the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
Last year, Gulla received a letter from the EPA stating that Range was
fined $24,600, in part for failing to maintain adequate erosion
controls on Gulla's land.
"It's not a perfect process," explained Pitzarella, but he insisted the
company makes every effort to remediate a person's property.
Gulla's willingness to talk about his experiences has landed him in
front of audiences in other areas where the Marcellus Shale will be
drilled, such as Binghamton and Endicott, N.Y., and in Pike County.
Clean Water Action recently filmed on his property for an upcoming
documentary.
"People need to know the truth. I will not stop talking. They will not
buy me out," he said.