Cabot Gas Well Linked To Methane Leakage Will Be Plugged

• Marie Cusick
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  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

A natural gas well in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, that has been the subject of a state investigation into methane leakage will be plugged after the investigation is completed, according to The Scranton Times Tribune.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has deemed the Cabot Oil and Gas well “unviable”:

DEP has not identified the precise source of the problem and it has not determined whether the gas well is to blame for the methane in the two water supplies, [DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly] said.
“We’re still looking into, is there a problem with the casings, was it drilled improperly?” she said. The well will not be plugged until after the investigation is complete, she said.
Cabot has voluntarily provided drinking water to one home and the other has a treatment system, she said.
Cabot spokesman George Stark said in an emailed statement, “We continue to work in conjunction with the DEP to fully investigate and resolve this matter. All options are on the table as we work in partnership with the department.”Heavy concentrations of methane contaminated the drinking water of several dozen families.

In 2009, the DEP fined Cabot for contaminating private water wells in Dimock with methane. The area has become ground zero for the fight over fracking.
In a separate investigation involving another company in Susquehanna County, the DEP recently determined gas drilling was not the cause of methane contamination.

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