11 Gas Wells To Be Drilled Underneath Dimock Pennsylvania Township

According to the Associated Press, the Houston-based Coterra Energy, formerly Cabot Oil and Gas Company has been given the go-ahead to drill 11 gas wells underneath Dimock Township in Pennsylvania.

Underneath Dimock, natural gas could be worth anywhere from $2.5 billion to $3.8 billion, according to a retired Penn State Geologist, Terry Engelder.

Some landowners are happy about the return of drilling, while others are not. Those not in favor, dread the increase in truck traffic, noise, and the threat of new contamination.

Associated Press notes that no date has been set for Coterra Energy to begin drilling. The company has agreed to monitor drinking water supplies within 3,000 feet of the new gas wells, among other steps to mitigate risk.

Dimock Pennsylvania is located in Susquehanna Pennsylvania, about 30 miles south of Binghamton, NY, and was in the national headlines after residents began reporting that methane and drilling chemicals in the water were making them ill.

Josh Fox produced and directed a documentary in 2010 called 'Gasland' that highlighted the Township and its dealing with fracking, including showing residents lighting their tap water on fire.

Coterra Energy pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor count in  2022 and agreed to pay for a $16 million public water system that would supply 20 homes whose water wells had been damaged.

According to the Associated Press article, the company remains prohibited from drilling inside the 9-square-mile moratorium area itself and has plans to place the wells outside of Dimock, drilling horizontally underneath the community.

Although, the public water system Coterra Energy is paying for, is years away from being operational. The Pennsylvania American Water Company agreed to build and operate the water line but is facing many obstacles for the 2027 deadline.