Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America

As Kendra continues to build her cases against Range Resources and the DEP, she works nearly around the clock, bringing case documents along with her to her children’s soccer practices. For Kendra, the greatest challenge of this case will be “to make it clear that her clients had been harmed by chemical exposure” (159). The main way that Kendra hopes to definitively prove a connection between fracking and her clients’ health is by showing that fracking chemicals are also present in her clients’ bodies. However, Kendra still doesn’t “know all the chemicals” used in fracking, and so she subpoenas numerous documents from the various defendants named in her suit, which Range Resources and others view as “a form of overkill that bordered on vendetta” (161-2). As Kendra continues to receive documents, she notices that many of the water tests provided to her clients had been altered to remove the presence of chemicals—an action which Kendra believes might constitute “fraud” (162). Kendra begins to notice aggressive behavior by Range Resources’ attorneys, and suspects that they are retaliating against her for her research.

In addition to their case work, Kendra and John Smith find themselves battling a new law passed in Pennsylvania related to fracking, called Act 13. The statewide law grants far more ability to the fracking companies to drill, and eliminates the ability for small towns to negotiate their own contracts and laws with the fracking companies. Crucially, towns can no longer set limits on how far the companies can drill from residences, meaning that “a frack pond could sit five times closer to someone’s house than the one uphill from Stacey” (165). The law also imposes a “physician gag rule,” limiting doctors’ ability to inform their clients if toxic chemicals are found in blood tests (166).

John Smith immediately seeks to fight the law from going into effect, believing that the law unfairly infringes upon the “rights of the little towns that were his clients” (168). John Smith hopes to launch a legal battle against the law based on the argument that towns have the right to choose which types of industry to allow into their communities. In particular, John Smith hopes to challenge the law due to its reliance on “spot zoning,” an illegal practice in which industrial zones are placed amid residential ones (169). John Smith is joined in his legal battle by the attorney Jordan Yeager, who hopes to challenge the law due to its violation of a Pennsylvania constitutional amendment that stipulates that citizens have “the right to clean air and pure water” (171). Though Act 13 is passed by the Pennsylvania government, John Smith and Jordan successfully convince a state judge to issue an “emergency injunction,” preventing the law from going into place and allowing the attorneys to continue their legal battle.

Stacey’s family moves into the camper and their lives slowly return to normalcy, with Harley’s health continuing to improve. Stacey focuses on “finding [her family] a new home,” but can’t find an affordable property in Amity, as property values have jumped up following the fracking companies’ entry into the region (176). Stacey is further dismayed to learn that her “favorite federal agent” has left the EPA to work for a gas company—a sign to Stacey of “what money does to people” (177). One day, a group of wild dogs attacks Stacey’s farmhouse, killing the remainder of Stacey’s farm animals. Harley remains isolated from his classmates, and begins smoking marijuana. Stacey continues to take Harley to visit doctors, who want to perform an endoscopy to determine whether bacteria present in Harley’s gastrointestinal tract was causing Harley’s illness. The doctors find ulcers and the presence of a number of bacteria. Amidst Stacey’s continuing familial challenges, Stacey’s long-term boyfriend Chris proposes to her, which Stacey happily accepts.

Kendra and John Smith file their lawsuit against Range Resources in May 2012, naming a number of other laboratories and companies as defendants in their suit, charging them with “negligence, conspiracy, and fraud” (185). Kendra believes that Range and other laboratories worked together to deliberately hide the presence of chemicals in Stacey’s water. For instance, one such laboratory, Test America, allowed Range Resources to alter the reporting limits on its water tests through a software program. At the same time, the attorneys continued their fight to strike down Act 13. In July, a state court rules that “much of Act 13 [is] unconstitutional” (191). However, the judges allow several of Act 13’s provisions to go through. These include the physician gag rule and a provision stating that the gas companies did not need to alert communities about the presence of contaminated water.

In this chapter, Griswold switches attention to Shelly, Stacey’s sister, who has similarly been involved in a legal battle surrounding water. For several years, Shelly has been working to establish a “public water pipe” system in the town of Amity (194). The water company had initially been reluctant to establish the pipeline, believing it wouldn’t be “financially viable” (194). However, Shelly had gone through the town asking residents to sign a petition for public water, with nearly every resident agreeing to sign. In the Summer of 2012, the public water supply is finally going to be installed, though Shelly lacks the financial resources to “tap-in” to the new system (196). Despite the establishment of a public water system, Amity continues to have water problems, as the “coal, oil, and gas companies” continually drain the town’s water reservoirs (197). Griswold describes how much of the issue with protecting the town’s water supply stems from residents’ opposition to any form of governmental interference.

As Kendra continues her research into her lawsuit, she grows increasingly suspicious of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection—describing their water tests as a “joke” to Griswold (200). Kendra is particularly concerned with the fact that the test results the DEP provided to residents often omitted most chemicals that the water had been tested for. The New York Times reports on the faulty water tests, with the DEP responding that Kendra’s assertions about their tests was merely an attempt to drum up controversy.

The lawsuit against Range Resources goes to trial in January 2013, with the case being heard by a judge who had previously heard trials relating to chemical exposure. In addition to Range Resources, Kendra has named a number of companies and laboratories in her suit, including Halliburton and Red Oak Water Transfer. These two companies had provided Range Resources with chemicals and pipes respectively, and argue that they cannot be held legally responsible for Range’s misuse of their products. Likewise, Test America argues that it cannot be held responsible for Range Resources’ withholding information from water tests the laboratory had performed. However, Kendra argues that these companies had knowingly allowed Range to mislead and harm her clients, and had to be held just as responsible.

As the trial begins, Stacey and Beth continue their struggle with government agencies, hoping to spur them to properly investigate Range’s violations and water contamination. While Stacey had initially been hopeful that the federal EPA would be more proactive, she now believed that the agency “was either ineffectual or deliberately dragging its feet” (205). Kendra particularly fights with the EPA to get them to conduct tests on the water for the full range of chemicals known to be present in Range’s fracking well. When the EPA finally provides Kendra and her clients with the test, they refuse to provide it in a written form that could be used in the trial. Likewise, the EPA refuses to definitively link the contaminated water to Range Resources’ drilling practices.

Buzz learns from a doctor that he has both leukemia and “a tumor the size of a softball,” possibly from contact with the contaminated water (208). Stacey, meanwhile, seeks to move out of the camper and into a rental home. However, when she visits the farmhouse to pick up some remaining possessions, she discovers that the house “had been ransacked” by individuals searching for scrap metal to sell (209). Shelly is deeply saddened by the break-in, which also causes her monthly insurance payments to increase. Though Shelly wants to be rid of the farmhouse, she can’t find a buyer for it due to the contamination.

Both Harley and Paige, meanwhile, appear to be suffering from the stress of the case. Harley becomes more withdrawn, and begins attending “cyber schooling,” which only increases his social isolation (211). Paige struggles in school and is failing her 10th grade English class. Harley and Paige both continually have to attend depositions, where Range’s attorneys ask them questions about their health and personal life. The attorneys grill Harley about his relationship with his mother, attempting to portray the relationship as strained. They also ask Harley why he didn’t take photographic documentation of his reported symptoms, suggesting that Harley was making up his illness. Stacey struggles to keep-up with her monthly payments for her farmhouse, her camper, and her cancer insurance. Stacey returns to the farmhouse to discover that there had been another break-in. Frustrated, Stacey leaves a note, asking the “ignorant motherfuckers” to leave her home alone (218).

A federal agent of the EPA’s “criminal division,” Jason Burgess, approaches Kendra, hoping to meet with her clients (219). Though Stacey is skeptical, Burgess promises her that he wants to fully investigate Range Resources for criminal activity, promising that he “will hand over my gun and my badge to you” if he doesn’t follow through (220). Burgess further tells Stacey that he is especially motivated due to his own childhood history of living near a toxic waste dump. Though Stacey agrees to cooperate, she maintains a general mistrust of the federal government’s ability or interest in protecting poor Americans like her. Stacey has grown particularly apathetic toward Obama, who never responded to the letter she wrote him.

While Obama’s presidential campaign had promised to heavily regulate the fracking industry, he had since pivoted to embrace fracking due to the large amount of energy it could generate for America. While Obama still argued that clean energy was the future, he “saw natural gas as a ‘bridge fuel’” which could help Americans make the switch toward solar and wind power (222). However, Stacey also felt that Obama’s focus on “the greatest good for the greatest number of people made Harley a justifiable casualty […]” (223). Stacey felt that the ordinary people who were most impacted by fracking, like her family and neighbors, were being ignored by Washington politicians.

As the pre-trial deliberations between the Smiths and Range Resources drag on, Stacey feels increasingly alienated from the Amity community. Many Amity residents, who financially benefit from Range Resources’ presence in the town, suspect that Stacey only is suing Range to procure a large financial settlement. Stacey decides to not attend Lower Ten Mile Presbyterian Church’s annual Thanksgiving dinner, due to the presence of what her sister Shelly calls “gas-well-loving, church-going hypocrites” (227). Stacey periodically checks in on her farmhouse, to make sure that more break-ins haven’t occurred. Worried about the possibility of retaliatory violence for her lawsuit, Stacey also begins carrying a gun with her “everywhere,” having applied for a “concealed carry permit” (226).

One day, Beth is home sick when she hears a gunshot from the living room. Beth finds a small bullet on the ground, “a full metal jacket [that] was often used for target practice” (229). However, Beth is suspicious that the bullet is accidental, as she notes that hunters don’t typically perform target practice in hunting season. Beth brings the bullet to the police, who are reticent to fully investigate the gunshot. Soon after, Beth receives a call to retrieve the bullet. Griswold accompanies Beth to the police, and along the way asks Beth about a number of rumors, including one that she had shot a man in California. Beth tells Griswold about how she had an abusive ex-husband in California, and how a friend of his had once attacked Beth in her home in Pennsylvania. As Beth retrieves the bullet, she also remarks to Griswold how she has lost faith in the government’s ability to protect her.