AP reported Thursday that EPA well water testing at 11 homes in northeast Pennsylvania “did not show levels of contamination that could present a health concern.”
The agency began testing the water in January, over a month after the state Department of Environmental Protection permitted Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. to stop delivering replacement water to almost a dozen families.
The EPA said water samples from six of the 11 homes for which it received initial test results showed sodium, methane, chromium or bacteria, but at levels that did not exceed primary or secondary drinking water standards. Arsenic was found in the well water of two homes, but at levels that did not present a health hazard, regulators said.
Many residents of Dimock were unsatisfied with these findings. Scott Ely, one of the plaintiffs suing Cabot said, “We’ve had hundreds of tests done out here, and we’ve had so many different scientists say you have bad water here, there’s not a doubt about it. And yet when the state and feds test our water, they say we can drink it. Absolutely not.”
On the other hand, Cabot issued a statement that said it is pleased by the test results and will continue to stay committed to environmental stewardship.
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