“Coterra committed to strict controls, monitoring and evaluation, resulting in some of the most restricted conditions on any drilling in the commonwealth.”Ĭabot, the predecessor company to Coterra, was charged in June 2020 with 15 criminal counts over allegations it drilled faulty gas wells that leaked flammable methane into residential water supplies in Dimock and surrounding communities.Ĭoterra pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor violation of the state Clean Streams Law. “When Coterra took over responsibility of the wells after the Cabot merger, they actively engaged with DEP to address the remaining issues in the area,” said agency spokesperson Jamar Thrasher. the driller deemed responsible for fouling Dimock’s water supply - and Cimarex Energy Co. The Department of Environmental Protection said it began negotiations with Coterra in early 2022, shortly after the company formed from the merger of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. 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. 29, 2022.Ĭoterra will be permitted to drill horizontally underneath a 9-square-mile (23-square-kilometer) area of Dimock and frack the gas-bearing shale that lies thousands of feet down. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, center, speaks with members of the media during a news conference at the Susquehanna County District Courthouse in Montrose, Pa., on Nov. “We got played,” said Ray Kemble, the most outspoken of a small group of Dimock residents who have battled the drilling company and state regulators alike. Some of the residents, who have long accused the Department of Environmental Protection of negligence in its handling of the water pollution in Dimock, said they felt betrayed. The agreement, which is public, was obtained by The Associated Press. State officials denied that Coterra was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor charge in exchange for being allowed to drill for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gas. 29 - the same day Coterra pleaded no contest in a high-profile criminal case accusing the company of allowing methane to leak uncontrolled into Dimock’s aquifer. The agency’s agreement with Houston-based Coterra Energy Inc. The Department of Environmental Protection quietly lifted its long-term moratorium on gas production in Dimock, a small village in Susquehanna County that gained national notoriety when people were filmed lighting their tap water on fire. One of Pennsylvania’s largest drillers will be allowed to extract natural gas from underneath a rural community where it has been banned for a dozen years because of accusations it polluted the water supply, according to a settlement with state regulators. Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be.Ĭraig Stevens holds a bottle of brown water as he speaks with members of the media outside the Susquehanna County Courthouse in Montrose, Pa., on Nov. The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over.
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