Hydrofracking Exposed

I met the Manning family during my first trip to the area about a month ago. The Mannings live in Franklin-Forks, Pennsylania and discovered in December of 2011 that their water went bad, shortly after WPX Energy began hydrofracking in the area. At the time, I was not able to mention their name or photograph them because they are in a lawsuit with WPX Energy. However, when I called Tammy Manning a few weeks later after first meeting her she told me she was fed up and wanted to let the public know what their family is going through.

Tammy and Matt Manning have three daughters who are all in their twenties. Up until 2010, they had always rented their houses. However, when their landlord needed to sell the house they were living in, they decided to purchase their first house in Franklin Township in November of 2010. Shortly after buying their house, WPX Energy began drilling in the town.

In December of 2011, the Mannings water came out of the faucet grey. They got their water tested by the DEP and the results came back positive for containing high levels of methane, arsenic, barium, and other dangerous chemicals. There is also carbon monoxide coming out of the faucets. The safe level for methane in drinking water is between 5-10 percent. The Manning’s water is at 68 percent methane.

Tammy and Matt now live in their house with their daughter Brianne and her two kids Madison, 5, and Jayden, 3. On the weekends, their granddaughter, Emily, 1, stays with them. Once a week Matt drives to Conklin, New York to his mother’s house where he fills up gallon-jugs of water which the family uses for drinking, cooking, and other daily tasks such as brushing their teeth. However, they still have to shower in the contaminated water. When they shower, they have to leave a window open or a fan on or else they get lightheaded from all of the methane coming out. They do not know the long-term health risks of this and are concerned for their grandchildren.

The Mannings are the first family to come out and say they have a problem with their water. Since, several other families in the town came out saying their water is contaminated as well. Once a well is contaminated, the water can never be drinkable again.

Tammy and Matt agreed to let me stay with them during my spring break to photograph their family. They told me that they would like to expose the whole operation and they want to see WPX Energy forced to stop drilling. Most importantly, they want to stop this from happening to other families. The Mannings were so accommodating and to say that by the end of the trip I became attached to the family is a huge understatement. They are the last family I would want something like this to happen to.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

I arrived at the Manning’s around 5 PM.  

As soon as I walked in the door, Madison grabbed my hand and gave me a very helpful tour, making sure I knew I couldn’t drink from the water faucets and could only drink from the water jugs, which were piled in the kitchen. Once a week, Matt drives to his mother’s house to fill up gallon-jugs with a week’s worth of water. The family uses this water for drinking, cooking, washing fruits and vegetables, and for their dog and five cats that live with them.  

Matt and I watched television with the kids (mostly Scooby Doo – the word obsessed doesn’t nearly describe Jayden’s addiction to it) and discussed his family’s situation while we waited for Tammy to get home from her cleaning job. When Tammy got home we all talked some more about what their life is like without drinking water.

Because their daughter Brianne works nights at Burger King, it is up to Tammy and Matt to cook, clean, and watch Madison and Jayden during the day when they are not at work. On top of this, they now have to meet with lawyers, the township, and the EPA regarding their water. Matt and Tammy are upset because even though they just bought their first house under two years ago, their property value has gone down to nothing because they don’t have clean water.

After some time of talking, I decided to call it a night. I brushed my teeth using bottled water and went to the room they had prepared for me. On my bed were two gift baskets from Tammy as if letting me stay with them for five days wasn’t enough.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Mannings are all up by 5:30 AM. Matt and Tammy leave around this time for work. Matt works at a metal shop and Tammy runs her own cleaning service. Madison’s Mom, Brianne, works full time during the night shift and comes home from work around 5 AM. Madison asked me to help make her lunch so that she didn’t have to bother her Mom since she was tired from work. Jayden, Madison, and I all had a bowl of cereal and I helped Madison with her basic addition homework. She is in kindergarten. Madison’s bus came to pick her up at about a quarter after seven and I went back to bed until about nine.

Since Brianne works during the nights, she sleeps during the day. Until Tammy comes home from work at 1 PM, Jayden stays in Brianne’s room while she sleeps or roams about the house talking about Scooby Doo. Since I was alone for the day, I decided to drive around town and see the different hydrofracking pad sites. But before I did, it was my first time for a shower in the contaminated water…

Because Williams Gas Company has not yet recognized that they are responsible for the contamination of the Manning’s well, they are not getting clean water delivered to them, like some of the families in Dimock. They have no option but to shower in the contaminated water. Other families with contaminated water have complained about getting red bumps and rashes over their skin from showering. Although the Manning’s haven’t experienced this yet, Tammy and Matt are concerned about the long-term health effects showering could have, especially on their grandchildren. Sometimes, Brianne pays a neighbor to let Madison and Jayden bathe in their bathtub. The Manning’s made sure to let me know to keep the fan on while I shower, otherwise they said they get lightheaded from all of the methane that builds up in the bathroom. As soon as I turned on the shower, a strange smell filled the bathroom. It smelled like a mix between sulfur and clay. The shower would also come out in spurts (this was from the methane coming out), not a smooth flow like I am used to. This made it difficult to wash all of the shampoo out of my hair. Every morning during my stay when I took a shower I made sure not to be in it for very long.

I drove down the road to Hi-Tech Collision, a garage owned by Bill Pabs. Bill is still drinking his water, even though dirt and sand comes out of his faucet. It was interesting to talk with Bill because he had a lot to say about the operation from a business owner’s perspective. Bill acknowledges that jobs have come in for local residents because of hydrofracking. Although on average only 10-20% of gas drilling jobs go to local residents, business in the town has increased because of the number of incoming workers, mostly from Texas and Louisiana. However, crime rates, car accidents, and road damage has also increased. Bill explained how as a shop owner, although business has increased (because of the increase in accidents), he is finding it harder to compete with the gas company as an employer. Because the gas company has more money to pay its employees, Bill is finding it harder to find employees who will work for him, because he cannot pay as much.

After visiting with Bill, I drove around the Franklin area. I noticed several changes since my last visit to Franklin. Several more wells had been put up and some of the well pads I photographed before had now been fracked. Currently, there are eight wells in the Franklin Township area. WPX Energy is planning on building thirty more.

Driving around broke my heart all over again, seeing a beautiful rural town taken over by industry and having the land destroyed by big well sites and the pathways of pipelines.

It was a beautiful day out so I drove to Salt Springs Park where I sat outside and read a book for some time. By the time I got back to the Manning’s house, Tammy was home from work. She left to pick up Matt from work and shortly after they returned, Bob Ackley and Frank Finan knocked on the door.

Bob and Frank went to over twenty houses in the area, testing methane levels in the air. The machine they were using made me feel like I was in the movie Ghost Busters. You could see the concern on their faces as soon as they turned the machine on and measured the Manning’s levels. As we walked up the stairs to the bathroom and the machine started reading over 150 ppm, Bob turned around to Tammy and Matt and said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what the hell is the gas company doing for you?” The answer of course, is nothing. As they turned on the shower and measured the methane level in the bathroom, the levels reached 225 ppm, the highest Bob and Frank had seen yet. Bob urged Tammy and Matt to purchase a gas detector, so they will be warned if the levels get too high and they need to evacuate the house. If the levels get too high, their house could explode.

When Bob and Frank left, Tammy and Matt began preparing dinner for everyone. Matt cooked chicken on the grill, while Tammy made rice and beans. The family is not able to use the oven or stove, because they could risk blowing up their house due to the high methane levels. They have to cook on a portable stove, as shown above, which takes a lot longer to cook on. Tammy told me she really misses baking cookies and brownies.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Again, the Manning family was up by 5:30 AM. We basically had the same routine as the morning before: I ate cereal with Jayden and Madison and helped Madison pack her lunch and finish her homework. When everyone left for work and school, I again took a very fast shower.

Around 10 AM I left the house to visit Leif and Barbara Winter who own an organic farm in town. Although they only live four or five miles from the Mannings, it took me over a half hour to get there, due to heavy traffic, road work, and slow moving trucks.

I pulled up the Winter’s long, gravel driveway to find two goats wandering around infront of the house. As soon as I knocked on the door and was greeted by Barbara and Leif, I immediately liked them. Leif invited me to sit down and explained he needed to finish sending an email, which he was sending to WPX Energy to complain about the poor performance their PR person had at the most recent town meeting.

I grew a deep respect for the Winter’s after just a few short minutes of talking to them. They are the type of people who advocate for sustainable living and actually live out those practices. They have an organic farm along with chickens and goats. They used to provide vegetables to CSA farms, but now they produce just enough vegetables, milk, and eggs to live off for themselves. “I really feel for growers whose water is being compromised,” Leif said.

Leif and I asked different questions about the presence of hydrofracking in each other’s lives. I explained to him my concerns about hydrofracking occurring in New York State and the area I live in and he responded by telling me how much he hoped New York State doesn’t allow the gas companies to start drilling. Although the Winter’s water has not been contaminated, they have watched the area they live in drastically change. Barbara has lived on the property since the 70s and Leif since 1995. Leif explained to me that they discuss leaving because of the presence of hydrofracking in the area. Barbara poked her head out of the kitchen and said, “I’d like to move, but I’m too old.” Leif explained how the landscape around them has changed and how he wishes our country would begin to invest in renewable energy. He then went on to say that to him, his farm and home is an “oasis in the middle of a bunch of crap,” referring to the wells in the town. He complained that the gas companies are doing so much around them, but “none of the people that live here know what’s going on.”

When I got home from visiting with the Winters, Tammy had just gotten back from work. Usually, the Mannings leave their water running so that their water comes out “cleaner”. This results in a high electricity bill, since the pump has to be going more. However, if the water is off for a couple of hours so much methane builds up that when you turn the water back on, the well will start hissing and erupting with water. Since the water had been off all day, she asked me if I’d like to get video of the well after we turned on the water.

The video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n0oM4R5WKE&feature=share.

The rest of the day was spent eating dinner and playing with the kids. Jayden spent most of the trip walking around with his “Scooby Fish” swimming in a Ziploc bag of the contaminated water.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Saturday morning, I went with Matt on his weekly run to get water from his Mom’s house in Conklin, NY. It’s about a twenty-minute drive and along the way he talked about how growing up, he spent a lot of time outdoors. Not much has changed. Matt spends much of his time fishing, hunting, and boating and has a great appreciation for the outdoors.

Matt’s mother is an extremely warm and welcoming person. We walked into the house and were immediately hit with a delicious smell of meatballs cooking in the crock pot.

Matt brought in a garbage bag filled with gallon-sized water jugs. He walked straight to the sink and began filling them up with water as he and his mother talked about their well situation and how Matt’s father was doing in the nursing home. It took around fifteen minutes to fill up the jugs and four different trips to the truck.

Once we got back to the Manning house, I made myself a quick sandwich and headed to Dimock, where I met with Ray Kembele.

Ray’s water went bad four years ago. This is a sample of water he collected from his well last summer. Cabot Oil and Gas Company used to supply the families with water, but stopped deliveries at the end of last year. Craig Stevens and Ray decided to take it upon themselves to supply the families with water.

Craig and Ray get this water from a hydrant in Montrose, PA, which Craig pays for through donations. Members in the community of Montrose are upset with them for taking water from their town to provide to families in Dimock. Ray has been physically harassed while trying to pump water from the hydrant. After spending ten minutes with Ray, I don’t know who would be crazy enough to mess with him.

During our car ride, Ray chain-smoked four cigars as we talked about numerous things involving hydrofracking in the area. In the background artists such as Lady Gaga, Sheryl Crow, and Avril Lavigne were almost inaudibly playing. It made me laugh to think of him driving alone with it turned up, cigar in mouth.

Ray used to work for Cabot Oil and Gas Company, driving a water truck to the sites. He was fired, however, when he called the EPA notifying them of violations the company was making including hauling brine water in fresh water tanks. It’s ironic that he is now hauling water to families effected by this same company.

The first house we delivered water to was the house of Erik Roos. Erik came out to talk with Ray and meet me and it was obvious how normal it had become for him to have someone deliver water from a truck to a water buffalo outside of his house.

Because the water buffalos are meant for cattle, humans cannot consume water out of them. So these families use the water for showering, but still have to buy bottled water to use for drinking, cooking, and other uses.

Next, we went to the house of Richard Seymour. His house is absolutely beautiful and it was sad to see how much work had been put into it to know that the property value is now so low because of not having safe water.

A comment his wife made about filling up an ice cube tray with bottled water made me realize how many different small inconveniences there were I hadn’t thought about.

Next, Ray delivered water to the Hubert’s, a family on Carter Road I had met during my previous trip.

The last delivery Ray had to make was for himself. Ray explained that his electricity bill is an extra  $150 - $200 dollars a month from running the buffalo. Ray said that if he wins the lawsuit against Cabot Oil and Gas Company, he is leaving Dimock. Ray had to stop using his pool because so much dust and dirt got in it from the big trucks that it was impossible to keep clean. For this same reason he has to keep his windows closed and he can’t use the grill outside. “You can’t enjoy your own yard,” he said.

I got back to the Manning’s house around 2:30. Around this time Vera Scroggins, a local activist, called me and invited me along to an anti-fracking Natalie Merchant concert in Binghamton. She asked me to bring the video of the Manning’s well erupting.

I got to set up my video at a “Water for Dimock” table and it was great to be able to be apart of the Dimock group and see the amazing people I had met during my last trip: Vera Scroggins, Craig Stevens, Craig and Julie Sautner. Ray, who I had spent the day delivering water with, was there too! I met a lot of great people during the night and got to see Natalie Merchant perform, who was incredible.

I got back to the Mannings around midnight and found Tammy doing a puzzle and watching TV. Although I was exhausted, I joined Tammy and worked on the puzzle with her. We spent about an hour joking around and competing to see who could get more pieces. That’s when it hit me how much I would miss this family when I had to leave the next day.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Because it was daylight savings and the clocks skipped forward an hour, we all slept in a little bit. After we got up, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day everyone decided to hike down to the creek, which is right behind the house. As soon as Tammy and Matt brought up the idea, everyone lit up, especially Madison and Maggie (the family dog).

The Mannings spend a lot of time at the creek, especially in the summer. Behind the house is a swimming hole with a rope swing, which everyone enjoys. Every year, the creek is stocked with giant trout, which the Mannings all love to fish. They are all worried that the creek will become contaminated and they will not be able to swim or fish there anymore.

As soon as we got there, Madison took my hand and showed me all her favorite rocks to sit on. Jayden spent most of the time throwing big rocks in the creek. Maggie jumped in almost as soon as the water was in site.

After a little while, Jayden started acting up so we had to head back to the house. Madison immediately broke down into tears with this news, so we promised her we would all play outside in the backyard.

When we got back to the house, Madison and I planted milkweed we had found down by the creek. She wanted to use the family’s bottled water to water it and I had to tell her we weren’t able to so they had enough water for the week.

During this time, Tammy’s parents showed up for a visit. Tammy’s Mom has dementia and the second she saw me she threw out her arms for a big hug and told me it was great to see me, even though we had never met. I think she was a little confused when I explained I was a photojournalist staying with the family.

It was getting to be late afternoon so I began to pack up my things. Matt and Tammy prepared dinner and as soon as we were finished eating I said my goodbyes so I didn’t have to drive on the bad roads in the dark. They all stood in the yard, waving goodbye and as soon as I pulled away I began to cry. It was so hard to leave the Mannings knowing what they were going through and probably would have to continue going through for some time.

I plan on visiting the Mannings again in the near future and to keep up with their situation. I hope that by sharing their story you will see the other side of hydrofracking that the government and gas companies are not acknowledging. In the near future, Governor Cuomo will decide whether or not to allow horizontal wells to be drilled in New York State. We need to prevent this from happening to other families and help the ones who have been effected and hurt. The current hydrofracking methods are too dangerous to continue anywhere in the world.