One of Pennsylvania’s largest drillers will be allowed to extract natural gas from underneath a rural Pennsylvania community where it has been banned for a dozen years because of accusations it polluted the water supply.
Coterra will be permitted to drill horizontally underneath a 9-square-mile area of Dimock and frack the gas-bearing shale that lies thousands of feet down, something that’s been forbidden since 2010, when environmental regulators accused Coterra’s corporate predecessor of failing to keep its promise to restore or replace Dimock’s water.
Coterra pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor violation of the state Clean Stream’s Law. Its plea deal with the state attorney general’s office requires Coterra to pay more than $16 million to fund construction of a new public water system for Dimock and to pay affected residents’ water bills for 75 years.
Coterra will continue to be prohibited from drilling new gas wells inside the moratorium area itself. But shale gas drillers like Coterra are able to drill horizontally for miles until they reach the target, meaning that even though the company will have to start their new wells outside of the prohibited area, the gas is easily within reach.
The driller has long contended the gas in Dimock’s water wells was naturally occurring, and over the years, it has periodically requested permission from the state to resume drilling in the community.In a statement, Coterra spokesperson George Stark said the agreement with DEP “resolves longstanding issues and provides for the responsible and safe development of natural resources located inside the nine-square mile area.
“They know the gas in that area is very prolific, and there’s a lot of it there. And they’d been hoping a resolution would come through, that their leases would be activated again and they’d start being able to get royalties out of the process,” he said.
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