A Dairy Farmer Shares Her Story About Fracking: “What Have We Done?”

Carol French stands on her dairy farm in Bradford County, Pa., with heirloom tomatoes harvested from her garden. Once a supporter for fracking with a lease, she turned against it after her neighbors began to experience problems and her water became undrinkable.

In the early spring of 2006, a nice man was in the area, promoting a chance to dream of better times for Bradford County and its farmers. There was promise of jobs for everyone and the farmer would generate money from signing a lease, and if a gas well was drilled on the farmer’s property he would become rich. Two years passed with little activity. By now, the older leases were about to expire, gas companies were beginning to drill, and excitement was in the air. Here, the majority of farmers signed early, receiving $5- $85/per acre. There was this belief that the person with the gas well would become the next “shaleionaires.” We later found out small acre properties started signing leases at $2,500/ per acre. By the spring of 2009, there was uneasiness among some of the farmers who had a gas well drilled on their property. The local newspaper was reporting contamination found in water wells, death occurring on a gas pad and the farmer was facing the fact that he could lose his farm due to a lawsuit based on the gas companies operation. For myself, I was thinking that our lucky neighbor was going to become the next Millionaire, because they had the gas well drilled on them. Soon my mind changed. Those farmers were facing penalties lodged against them, due to their land becoming industrial use instead of agricultural use.

Stolen: Gustavo Jononovich Documents the Exploitation of Latin America’s Natural Resources

Ecuador: Natural gas is burned off next to an oil well. photo: Gustavo Jononovich. To see more visit  Nieman Reports and Gustavo Jononovich

This Land Is Their Land Bearing witness to the fallout from the exploitation of Latin America’s natural resources By Gustavo Jononovich for Nieman Reports Latin America’s abundant natural resources are a blessing and a curse. Too often, foreign [...]

Onto Plan B: Lead Found in Drinking Water After EPA Misfires

Tap water. photo:  Sebastian Joseph

Toxic Taps: Lead is still the problem By Sheila Kaplin and Corbin Hiar for Investigative Reporting Workshop This story is being co-published on Open Channel with nbcnews.com. Millions of Americans may be drinking water that is contaminated with dangerous doses [...]

The Water Man: Harvesting Rainwater in India

Rainwater collector A very grand, and double-function rainwater harvesting system to overcome the shortage of surface water on the limestone plateau. This one has a porous wall as well as a collecting apron, so it should be able to work from mist and dew as well as wind-driven rainfall. This example is very well maintained, as the storage troughs and apron are nicely pointed, which is a surprise as it is a long way from the nearest habitation. photo: Wikimedia Commons

Grassroots movement tackles India water crisis by CIR  Subscribe to podcast  ·  Download audio  ·  Embed player  ·  Audio player assistance TRANSCRIPT: The average human drinks a couple of quarts of water every day. But it takes more [...]

Secret Pipes Illegally Dump Oil-Contaminated Waste Into Ocean

Pipes on an oil tanker. photo: Wikimedia Commons

Illegal ocean dumping persists despite DOJ crackdown by Ronnie Greene for iWatch News When a U.S. Coast Guard inspector boarded the M/T Chem Faros, a 21,145-gross-ton cargo ship that pulled into port in Morehead City, N.C., an oiler with [...]

Shoveling Water: Predrill Tests

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This story was updated on January 4, 2012. What if a predrill water well test conducted during the biggest boom for natural gas became meaningless? At least one predrill test in Pennsylvania has been deemed insufficient by natural [...]