2: Jan 1, 2009: Norma Fiorentino's Water Well Explodes

 On Jan 1, 2009, Norma Fiorentino's water well exploded. The past 15 months had been described as a "Drilling Frenzy" in Dimock Township, where Cabot Oil and Gas had just drilled 19 gas wells.

One well, the BAKER-1 was within 1,000 ft. of Norma's water well. PA DEP had found this well (along with 7 others) had problems. In this case, excessive pressure. It was ordered plugged and abandoned.

PA DEP Consent Agreement, dated 4 Nov 2009, showing that the BAKER-1 wells had "excessive pressure". It was ordered plugged and abandoned,.

DRILLING FRENZY!
Cabot had drilled 19 gas wells near Norma's home
in the 15 months prior to the explosion,
all within 9 square miles in Dimock Township
(Red Dots: Gas Wells. Yellow Star: Exploding Water Well)

Cumulative wells drilled in Dimock Township prior to Norma's water well exploding.
(Yellow Star: Date Norma's well exploded.)

Cabot commissioned GSI Environmental, Inc, to perform a pre-drilling methane survey of Susquehanna county  Only trace levels of nethane were found. In the vininty of Norma's home, 100 to 1,000 parts per BILLION, or 0.0001% to 0.001%. The Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) for methane in water is 5%, which is between 5,000x to 50,000x times greater than was measured prior to drilling.

Pre-drilling methane survey commissioned by Cabot were between 1/5,000sth to 1/50,000sth the explosive limit for methane in water, a 3-4 orders of magnitude difference!

PA DEP Spud Database showing location and dates when Cabot drilled the first wells in Dimock. In the first Consent Agreement, DEP identified the BAKER-1 well as being within 1,000'ft of Norma's well, and presumed to be the well which caused the problem. Baker-1 was shut in.

QUESTION: Since Norma's well was fine prior to drilling, might the Drilling Frenzy in Dimock between Sept 25 2007 and Jan 1, 2009, and the numerous Cabot wells with problems, including the BAKER-1, which was within 1,000 feet of her water well (and was ordered plugged and abandoned due to excessive pressure) be connected to the explosive levels of methane in Norma's well?