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Pennsylvania DEP Investigation
In January 2009, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began an immediate investigation to identify the causes for the water incidents in Dimock Township. DEP’s investigation revealed high levels of dissolved methane and the presence of combustible gas in some of the nearby drinking water wells. Subsequently, DEP put in place a temporary moratorium on Cabot’s drilling activities in the Dimock area.
In a Consent Order and Agreement dated November 2009, DEP requested Cabot to develop and submit a casing and cementing plan, the purpose of which was to ensure the integrity of each new well to be drilled in the affected area. Furthermore, DEP required Cabot to provide and maintain temporary potable water supplies to residents until it identified and implemented corrective actions to comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
As part of the ongoing investigation, DEP found that Cabot did not fully eliminate the risks of water contamination and did not restore or replace the affected water well supplies; therefore, in December 2010, DEP and Cabot entered into a modified and final Consent Order and Settlement Agreement. Among other things, the Consent Order mandated that Cabot eliminate unpermitted natural gas discharges into state waters either by plugging wells or by using remedial actions as well as undertaking additional screening and water sampling. Furthermore, Cabot was required to establish an escrow fund in order to restore or replace the water supplies and to provide temporary whole house water supplies and fund residential water well treatment systems for selected residents.
Finally, Cabot agreed to pay $500,000 to help DEP offset some of the costs associated with the investigation along with $4.1 million to affected residents. Some of them, however, refused to settle, including the Ely and Hubert families. Thus, these plaintiffs continued to pursue the civil litigation that was filed on November 19, 2009.
