For years we have pointed to the residents’ of Dimock, PA experience as evidence of the damage caused by fracking. Now, after fourteen years, residents have hopes that their homes will enjoy good water. It took a dramatic and controversial documentary film and aggressive litigation against a recalcitrant company. I hesitate to say that anybody “won” in this process. The sixteen-million-dollar water system will deliver potable water that residents once drew from their wells. That doesn’t make up for the years of hauling water, the compromised property values, and the disruption of community life.

It looks like the executives of the oil company that caused all the problems have not been held accountable. The company has a new name and is posing as reformed. But Dimock remains scarred and damaged by fracking. Nothing in the legal victory can restore the lost time or cure the disruption. As we often point out, fracking does nothing to improve the environment, and the “mailbox money” and temporary employment the industry generates for locals do not offset the harm.

Let Pennsylvania citizens continue to resist the efforts of the gas and oil industry. The industry still seeks to pipe Pennsylvania gas to terminals for liquefication and shipment offshore, where it will be burned or made into polluting “disposable” single-use plastic products. Read the WHYY story below (click picture).