PA Residents Sue Gas Driller Over Polluted Wells
Philadelphia Inquirer
20 November 2009
By Michael Rubinkam, The Associated Press
DIMOCK, Pa. - More than a dozen families have filed suit against one of
the nation's largest natural gas drillers after the company polluted
their water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania.
State environmental regulators fined Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas
Corp. for allowing gas to escape into groundwater supplies in rural
Susquehanna County near the New York border. The Department of
Environmental Protection says 13 wells were polluted.
Cabot agreed earlier this month to take steps to prevent a recurrence.
The company also promised to restore or replace the affected water
supplies.
The problem was discovered Jan. 1 when a well exploded at a home near
Cabot's operations.
Cabot is among a slew of exploration companies that are drilling in the
potentially lucrative Marcellus Shale formation.