The woman in the picture above has some things to say to you. She lives in Granville, Pennsylvania. She leased her land to Chesapeake Energy for $100 an acre and got $19,000. It was "like winning the lottery," she says.
Chesapeake hydrofracked on her land and now her well water is tainted with methane and chemicals. She says that the water won't freeze now. Her family doesn't drink the water and they can only take short showers because they get light-headed. She leaves the windows of her house open year round so explosive gas fumes will not build up.
The woman seems resigned to the reality of her situation. I suspect she is getting some sort of royalty payments from the gas company. But she is not pleased with the drilling companies, and for several reasons. If you are reading this, and you have your land leased to a gas company, I suggest that you listen to this woman's experience and perspective.
She is featured on a short documentary called Marcellus Shale Reality Tour (click to see the movie). The "reality tour" follows a busload of elected government officials that travel to a fracked area of PA to see for themselves what kind of impact hydrofracking has had on people.
Yes, it's another anti-fracking documentary, but it interviews real people whose lives have been profoundly affected by hydrofracking. If nothing else, listen to the testimony of the woman above (she shows up at 22:17 into the movie). Judge for yourself if what she says is true, or a lie.
I'm not sure I feel sorry for this woman. After all, she leased her land, and she is suffering the consequences. What concerns me far more is all those people in a community who do not enter into a lease, and who do not make money off the deal, yet find themselves significantly harmed by hydrofracking activity on neighboring land. I see them as innocent victims and that is my greatest concern with hydrofracking in Sempronius.
Everyone has a right to live safely on their land. If the actions of a few landowners and gas companies truly do bring harm and hardship on neighbors who have no stake in the activity, that is a bad thing. It's worse than bad—it's wicked.
There is growing evidence that innocent people in communities where hydrofracking is taking place are, indeed, experiencing harm and hardship. This should not be ignored by public officials entrusted with the general safety and welfare of their community.
After seeing what has happened on the land of the woman above, one man on the reality tour says: "I'm glad this is not my land."