Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America

In the beginning of 2011, Stacey and Beth are contacted by Range Resources to discuss two tests the company had done on their water. While the two request that the company discuss the tests with them together, Range’s executives, Laura Rusmisel and Carla Suszkowski, insist on meeting with them individually. At the meeting, the two executives tell Stacey and Harley that the tests had not shown evidence of metals in the water, and that “her family’s water wasn’t affected by their operations” (87). They also told Stacey that any elevated arsenic in Harley’s blood must have been caused from another source, and that they did not find any evidence of ethylene glycol in the water. As the company’s tests showed the water to be clean, the company would not continue to provide Stacey and Beth with a water buffalo.

After the meeting, Stacey hires Bob Fargo to conduct another water test, which reveals the presence of glycols in Stacey’s water, contradicting Range’s test results. Fargo alerts the EPA, which directly contacts Range Resources, requesting a list of all chemicals used in fracking. Afterwards, Stacey is visited by several governmental agents examining the effects of fracking, and is invited to participate in a “two-year nationwide study to investigate fracking’s impact on drinking water” (90). Worried about airborne toxins, Stacey and her family undergo a series of blood and urine tests designed to screen for several chemicals. The tests reveal the elevated levels of phenol and hippuric acid, signaling that Stacey’s family had been exposed to two chemicals, benzene and toluene. These chemicals “had the potential to alter genes” and cause developmental problems in children (93). Stacey feels increasingly exasperated, as the presence of airborne toxins suggests that Stacey must move her family and farm animals to a new property, which she lacks the funds for. Stacey decides to speak at a public meeting on fracking, to be held at an airport in Morgantown, West Virginia.

On the day of the meeting at the airport, Paige comes down with a stomach flu, and Stacey is forced to bring Paige with her to the meeting. At the airport, Stacey finds the meeting full of “farmers, politicians, and local conservationists,” all of whom are hoping to discuss the potentially harmful effects of fracking (97). Stacey is scheduled to give a presentation on her own experiences, something which she is anxious about, as she does not like public speaking. During her presentation, Stacey tells of her history with Range Resources, and details the various medical ailments she and her family have suffered since the fracking began. Griswold is in attendance at the meeting, and describes how she approached Stacey afterwards. Griswold drives to visit Stacey at her house, and notices that “industry was everywhere” in the rural Pennsylvania landscape (101). 

This chapter centers around John and Kendra, two lawyers based in Cecil Township, “an affluent suburb” located in Washington County (105). John Smith runs his own law firm, Smith Butz, which focuses on helping local residents who are signing away land rights to Range Resources and other fracking companies. Kendra is a former corporate lawyer who recently decided to switch jobs and become a partner in John’s firm. As a corporate lawyer, Kendra defended companies in lawsuits brought by workers claiming to have been effected by “chemical exposure” (112).

Stacey decides to call Smith Butz after being given John’s business card by a fellow nurse. Since speaking at the airport, Stacey has been approached by numerous “reporters, plaintiff attorneys, and fractivists,” and Stacey has decided to seek local counsel to represent her against Range Resources (111). After Stacey calls John Smith and tells him of her family’s plight, Kendra drives out to visit Stacey’s farm and research her claims. Kendra’s background as a corporate lawyer gives her special expertise in evaluating whether Stacey has a case, and Kendra is initially skeptical that they can decisively prove that the fracking has harmed Stacey’s family. However, Kendra is convinced to take the case after she notices that “the taste of metal lay like a film on her tongue” for days following her visit to Stacey’s farm (117). Both Stacey and Beth decide to have Smith Butz represent them in their legal battle.

One day, Stacey drives home to the farm and encounters an incredible stench coming from the fracking well, which she describes as the “worst we have ever smelled” (117). Harley once again falls ill, and goes to sleep for more than “fifteen and a half hours” (119). Stacey quickly loses the ability to detect the stench, which she worries is a sign of “olfactory fatigue,” signaling that she and her family could soon succumb to chemical poisoning (119). After consulting with a doctor, Stacey decides to move her family to stay with her parents, hoping that distance from the fracking well will improve Harley’s condition.

A DEP investigator, John Carson, visits Beth to investigate the worsening stench. Carson finds evidence that the fracking pond might be leaking, and realizes that the leak detection system installed by Range Resources is faulty, as it will only catch leaks after they have already entered the water stream. Increasingly “frustrated” by the DEP’s inaction, Beth convinces the Smiths to file a civil lawsuit against the DEP to pressure them into taking care of the contaminated water (124). Range Resources asks “to join the defense,” meaning that the Smiths will face both DEP and Range’s lawyers in court (125).

The Smiths immediately subpoena “every single document the DEP had in its files for the Yeager site—permits, correspondence, plans, and schematics” (126). As Kendra combs through the files, she recognizes the same problems with the leak detection system that Carson noticed. Kendra searches through the DEP’s online archive of violations for any instances of leaks from the fracking well. Though the website, eFACTS, is poorly constructed, Kendra discovers a leak violation on March 25, 2010, proving that the DEP was already aware of leaks.

The Smiths and the Voyles travel to Harrisburg for the case’s first trial hearing on June 1, 2011. Though the Smiths want Beth to testify, the judge refuses to hear any evidence beyond a quick summary of the case facts by Kendra. At the trial, Range and the DEP’s lawyers sit together and act convivially with each other, suggesting that “The DEP and the oil and gas industry seemed to be on the same side” (129). One of the DEP’s attorneys gives Kendra a binder which he claims contains the complete data from Range’s tests on Stacey’s water. However, as Kendra flips through the binder, she recognizes that numerous pages are missing from the binder. Kendra resolves to subpoena the company that conducted the tests, Microbac Laboratories, to find the “missing pages” (130). 

One day, Beth receives a phone call from her neighbor, Loren “Buzz” Kiskadden, who lives “half a mile” away from Stacey, Beth, and the Yeager fracking site (131). Buzz lives in a trailer on his families’ former junkyard, and was calling Beth because he had discovered that his “water had gone bad,” as the water appeared discolored and had a strong smell to it (133). Beth tells Buzz that he has to alert both DEP and Range about the foul water, and then calls the Smiths to tell them about Buzz. The Smiths are hesitant about taking on Buzz’s case, as Buzz has a criminal record and is a recovering drug addict, which could impact whether the court would take his testimony seriously. However, the Smiths also agree to meet with him to see if they can gather evidence that will help their case. A DEP agent visits Buzz to conduct tests on his water, and notices that Buzz’s water well lacks a covering, meaning that any number of substances could enter the well. 

In preparation for the trial, the Smiths begin issuing subpoenas to the various contractors that had worked on the Yeager site, asking for documents that might reveal how the fracking well was impacting their clients. In a short time, the Smiths begin accumulating numerous boxes full of documents from the DEP and Range’s contractors, and Kendra begins to systematically comb the documents for any vital information. The Smiths discover that the DEP had begun “remediation” process that involved a “large-scale cleanup” of the fracking hill, suggesting “something had gone seriously wrong” (136). The Smiths become convinced that their clients have a major claim against Range Resources, and they ask Stacey to “serve as the named plaintiff in the case” (136). At the same time that they conduct research for their case against Range, which will take at least a year to file, they continue to pursue their case against the DEP.

The Smiths initially subpoena “subcontractors […] [who] knew little about the case,” as they would be more likely to provide the lawyers with important information (137). As Kendra combs through the documents, she discovers that the Yeager fracking site had leaked a number of times in 2010 and 2011, with the cleanup occurring long after the initial leak. Included in the documents are a number of emails that reveal that both the contractors and Range Resources executives were aware that the pits and pipelines were leaking into the surrounding landscape. Kendra also discovers that toxic waste from other fracking wells was being transported and dumped into the Yeager fracking pond. In the fall, Kendra finally receives the full water tests from Microbac lab. Kendra realizes that the previously missing pages reveal that the test results Range had given Stacey and Beth had been “doctored” to omit the presence of harmful chemicals (140).

An EPA inspector tells Stacey that the Yeager site is being temporarily closed down. Ecstatic that she could return to her farm, Stacey organizes a large bonfire celebration with friends and family. One night soon after, Beth’s daughter Ashley goes for a horse ride around the property, passing the Yeager fracking well. When Ashley’s horse abruptly stops at a stream, Ashley discovers that the stream appears to be full of chemicals and had become multi-colored “rainbow water” (143). Stacey and Beth also inspect the stream and realize that a number of “little seeps” were leaking out of the hillside and into the water (143). A DEP inspector comes the next day to test the water, which reveals the presence of oil and other chemicals in the stream. The DEP inspector also sees a number of water trucks parked next to the fracking pond. He realizes that Range is pumping the fracking pond full of water to “flush” out toxic chemicals, as the EPA is scheduled to come soon and test the water (144). Though the DEP had specifically forbade Range from doing this, the company had gone through anyway. When the EPA does come to test the water, they are forbidden from entering Range’s fracking pond and can’t perform the test.

Buzz and his family’s health condition worsens, seemingly as a result of their contaminated water. Buzz’s doctor performs blood tests, which reveal the presence of numerous chemicals. The DEP sends Buzz the results of their water test, which show that “inorganic salts” and “methane” are present in the water (146). However, they blame the contamination on the lack of a well cover, and write that Range Resources is not responsible for the pollution. When Kendra looks over the test results, she notices the presence of chemicals associated with fracking in the water. She decides to file a lawsuit arguing that the DEP “were wrong and that oil and gas had contaminated [Buzz’s] water”—a case that Kendra believes will “kick off a shitstorm” (147).

As Harley spends more and more time away from the farm, his health improves, and his arsenic levels begin to drop closer to a healthy level. However, Stacey must continue to return to the farm to take care of the animals she has left there, meaning that she continues to come into contact with the deadly chemicals. Despite Harley’s improving condition, he remains depressed and feels alienated from other teenagers his age. A “fractivist” contacts Stacey, inviting her to pen a letter telling Obama of her struggle with fracking companies, so as to hopefully convince him of the problems with fracking (149). In the letter, Stacey details all of the problems her family has encountered since the fracking began: “I feel like we are stuck in a bad dream” (149).

Stacey continues to fight for justice by attending an open panel with federal representatives and telling them of her plight. At the end of the hours-long event, Stacey is given a two-minute speaking slot, where she quickly attempts to convey to the panelists how much fracking has affected her family. Though Stacey and her family attempt to move back into the farm, they quickly realize that the farm is still contaminated and is unsafe for living. Stacey further learns that the Yeager fracking pond was due to remain open. Because Stacey can’t afford a new house, she decides to use her savings to buy a camper, allowing her family temporary housing if needed.