Gas firm Cabot agrees to reforms, will restore water supplies

Nov 05, 2009 (The Times-Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- COG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- A natural gas driller operating in Dimock Twp. will have to provide permanent water supplies to families whose drinking water has been contaminated by methane from faulty gas wells under a consent order signed with the state Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday.

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. must also prove the integrity of its existing wells, including the layers of casing and cement that seal off the gas and toxic fluids in the wells from the aquifers around them. It must get department approval of new casing and cementing plans before drilling any future wells, and it must pay a $120,000 fine.

"The goal of the consent order and agreement is to ensure a long-term resolution to issues that have emerged in Dimock," DEP Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch said.

The agreement caps an investigation that began on New Year's Day when an explosion blew apart a concrete slab above a water well in a township resident's yard.

DEP inspectors found that the well casings on at least three of Cabot's natural gas wells were cemented improperly or insufficiently while others were overpressurized, allowing natural gas to migrate to groundwater in a 9-square-mile area.

In all, 13 water supplies were found to be contaminated and must be permanently replaced. Cabot is providing those families with temporary replacement water supplies.

The consent order also requires Cabot to tell the department within 10 days about any other residents to whom it is providing water within the 9-square-mile area as well as those who have complained about a change in their water because of the drilling. A plan to provide all of those affected residences with a replacement water supply will have to be submitted to the department by March 31.

Although Cabot signed the 18-page consent order, the company held back from admitting to several findings, including those that assert Cabot caused the methane contamination and that the company's failure to properly cement and case several wells allowed methane to escape into the groundwater.

Kenneth Komoroski, a Cabot attorney and spokesman, said the company feels "very good" about the agreement, which he said allows for the company to continue its ongoing investigation into the source of the methane while ensuring it is "conducting its drilling and well completion activities in complete accord with the department's interests."

The company still has not determined whether it caused the methane to leak into residents' drinking water, he said. The agreement leaves open the possibility that the company can try to disprove the department's findings.

The agreement signed Wednesday calls for Cabot to fix the defective casing and cementing in its gas wells by the March 31 deadline. If it does not, the company must plug the defective wells.

The consent order also addresses several other violations that have been corrected by Cabot, including four industrial spills: drilling mud leached into a spring near the Black 2H well in September 2008; 100 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the Gesford 3 well in January; 25 to 50 barrels of drilling mud spilled into a ditch and field at the B Severcool 1 well in February; and drilling mud leaked into Burdick Creek during a spill at the Gesford 1 well in March.

Dimock resident Victoria Switzer, whose water supply is among those that will have to be replaced under the order, said she is both shocked and excited to hear about the water remedy and the testing of the gas wells that surround her home. But she said any optimism is shaded by the mistakes she has seen Cabot make in the township.

"It comes down to character," she said. "When you watch someone do something wrong, it's hard to believe they'll do something right."

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

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