Two Sides of Drilling Fever: A Town Scarred, a Town Energized : Oil Wells Destroyed the Drinking Water, Village Contends

In this pastoral village near the birthplace of the oil industry, residents are angry about what is coming out of the ground.

Two years ago, after a drilling company punched oil wells in the ridge above their homes, the water turned salty and smelly, they say.

They hauled in water for drinking, cooking and bathing. They complained of pitted spigots, green crystals caked on pipes, ruined steam irons, grubby laundry and rust on stainless steel sinks.

Barbie Stahlman’s family remembers a day when mud came out of the shower instead of water. “It’s been miserable,” she said.

“It’s been a pain in the neck for quite a while,” said Robert Neidich, one of 18 homeowners in this community on the banks of the Allegheny River.

“When you took a shower, it was like swimming in the ocean. You didn’t feel clean. If you didn’t immediately rinse and dry the dishes after you washed them, it left a cloudy film. You couldn’t drink it or use it for cooking,” Neidich said.

“It smelled like stagnant swamp water,” said his wife, Joyce.

End of Trouble Seems Near

But the end of the hardship seems near for the northwestern Pennsylvania community.

Fourteen of the 18 families sued Norwesco Development Corp. for fouling their private water wells. In a separate action, the state Department of Environmental Resources accused the company of contaminating the water with brine, a salty solution found with oil deposits.

The company, which filed for protection from creditors under federal bankruptcy laws last year, denied any wrongdoing. But before a Dec. 2 trial could start, Norwesco’s insurance company offered a cash settlement to build a new water system and pay for damaged plumbing.

Residents agreed to accept the offer, reported to be a lump sum of $275,000, or about $15,400 per family, from the Oil and Gas Insurance Co. of Columbus, Ohio. Norwesco is paying for bottled water until a new well outside the contaminated area can be drilled.

“They’re paying enough money to install a new water system and enough for the people to be reimbursed for significant plumbing damage. There should be a little bit left over for their trouble and inconvenience,” said H. William White, a lawyer for the homeowners.

Belmar is about 15 miles from where Edwin Drake drilled the world’s first commercial oil well in 1859, and oilmen say they have taken brine and oil out of the ground without harm for generations.

“Brine is as natural as anything we have up here. It’s not a hazardous waste. It’s not nuclear material,” said Thomas Breene, president of the Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers, a 445-member trade group.

“Brine from shallow oil wells is a lot like alcohol. A little bit is good for you, but a lot can cause problems,” he said.

“It can create a laxative effect,” said Bruce Dallas, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Resources. “But most people discontinue using the water before it becomes a problem.”

Brine disposal is part of a 1984 law regulating the state oil and gas industry. Pennsylvania ranks 21st among the 31 oil-producing states, yielding 4.9 million barrels of crude a year. Brine is more of a problem in the Appalachian Basin, where oil wells are shallower, than in Texas and Oklahoma.

The new law presumes that the well driller is guilty if a drinking water supply is polluted within 1,000 feet of a new oil or gas well, state officials said.

“This case shows that problems can occur when brine is disposed of improperly,” said David Mashek of the Department of Environmental Resources. “Now the industry knows that, if ground water pollution is caused by oil drilling, they have to reimburse the town for the water. If they do cause problems, we will take action.”

Brine taken from wells can be treated and discharged into rivers or used to de-ice roads, Mashek said.

Norwesco reportedly drilled 280 wells within a mile of Belmar, including 70 to 90 on a hillside above the village. Brine was pumped to collecting areas, where spills, leaks and discharges seeped into the ground and a stream, the Department of Environmental Resources said.

Under terms of the settlement, Norwesco did not admit liability for the pollution, said Kenneth Chestek, the company’s attorney.

Drove to Get Water

Villagers drove seven miles to the nearest town to borrow water from relatives or friends for making coffee or ice, brushing teeth and washing.

The ordeal made them angry.

“We were unable to exert any control. We were unable to stop it, prevent it or change it. There’s no amount of money that can compensate for that,” said Bill Black, a schoolteacher and father of two.

Black would not allow his children to bathe in the water.

“We didn’t know if it was an inconvenience or a real health problem. If it doesn’t taste good and it does funny things to the clothes and appliances, what was it doing to the kids? We didn’t know,” Black said.

Jack Kassi, 38, a speech therapist, said residents could not sell their homes or refinance mortgages because of the water problem.

“Right now, my house is worth nothing. Would you buy a house with no water?” Kassi said.

“Did you ever live out of a jug? Try getting up at 11 o’clock at night to find you’re out of water and have to go down to the end of the road in a thunderstorm to get some. It’s totally disruptive.”