Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America

Though Stacey counts the Supreme Court decision as a success in her ongoing battle, her life is otherwise filled with increasing struggle. She continues to amass hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, and struggles to work enough hours to keep her family afloat. Such ongoing difficulties leads Stacey to develop a pessimistic attitude that “the world was against her,” which she imparts upon her children (243). The stress causes Stacey to have intense nightmares, which prevents her from getting enough sleep. Though Stacey’s doctor diagnoses her with post-traumatic stress disorder, she refuses to take antidepressants, as she believes that doing so would mean that “Range wins” (245). Stacey is incredulous and worried about her PTSD diagnosis, as her father also suffered from PTSD following the Vietnam war. Stacey decides to try seeing a therapist, who has her “recall the worst of her fears” in an attempt to help her deal with the stress (246). Beth’s daughter Ashley similarly struggles with mental disorders, and calls Beth threatening to kill herself. 

While Range Resources’ “stock price hit an all-time high,” Range is ordered by the DEP to close several of its waste ponds due to their faulty leaking (248). As Kendra and John Smith begin their trial against the DEP to provide Buzz with clean water, they are hopeful that the closure will help support their case. The crux of the Smiths’ case against the DEP is arguing that the DEP was incorrect in concluding that Range Resources had not contaminated Buzz’s water. The case is to be heard by the Environmental Hearing Board, which may be reluctant to rule in favor of Buzz and the Smiths, as doing so would set a precedent for others to challenge the DEP. In the trial, the DEP’s lawyer, Michael Heilman, argues that it is impossible to definitively link Range’s activity to Buzz’s contamination. While the DEP acknowledges its mishandling of the Yeager site, Heilman argues that Buzz’s contaminated water is a mere “coincidence” (250). Kendra responds by questioning a DEP agent and having him list the many leaks and other ways that Range had polluted the water. However, the DEP’s expert witness argues that the water stream below the Yeager fracking pond flows in the opposite direction of Buzz’s well, making contamination impossible.

After the trial, Range Resources’ lawyers increasingly suspect that an outside organization or person is funding the Smiths’ lawsuits against Range and the DEP. Their suspicion arises from the fact that the lawsuits are incredibly expensive, with costs that go far beyond what the Smiths’ poor clients can pay. Range’s lawyers think that an anti-fracking foundation called Heinz Endowments might be funding the suits, and subpoena members of the foundation for questioning.

One day, when Stacey is attending an appointment with her endocrinologist, she starts chatting about the case with her doctor’s nurse, Donna Gisleson. As Stacey is telling her about the case, Donna uses highly specific terminology suggesting that she already is familiar with the lawsuit. Donna reveals that her husband is John Gisleson, who is representing Range in Buzz’s lawsuit. Donna also tells Stacey that she had told her husband that “Stacey wouldn’t make up symptoms” (257). Stacey feels that Donna’s actions violated patient confidentiality rights and files a suit against John Gisleson in court. After the suit appears before a judge, John Gisleson approaches Stacey’s attorney, Jon Kamin, and says threatening things to Kamin about John Smith.

Though a judge had ordered Range Resources to provide a full list of the chemicals used in fracking to the Smiths, Range continues to refuse. Range argues that it can’t provide such a list, as it uses other companies’ “proprietary” chemical products, whose “contents were secret” (259). Such a statement seems to violate Range’s own claim on its website that it discloses all of its chemicals. Kendra attempts to discover what chemicals are being used by looking at the other companies’ information sheets, listing the ingredients of their products. As Kendra looks at Halliburton’s sheets, she continually sees a letter “T,” which she later discovers through depositions indicates a so-called “tracer” chemical (260). Such tracer chemicals allow Range Resources to track the spread of its chemicals during a frack. If Kendra could show the existence of a tracer chemical in her clients’ water, she would definitively prove that Range had contaminated their water supply.

Kendra targets a type of tracer manufactured by ProTechnics that is based around releasing radioactive particles. ProTechnics argues that such radioactive material was safe to use, as it only involved a “negligible amount of radioactive isotopes” (261). However, when Kendra asks the DEP to provide information on these radioactive tracers, she is told that such information is classified, as it could be used by terrorists to construct bombs. Kendra sees a glaring contradiction between ProTechnics and the DEP’s statements: “Were these materials harmless or potential agents of destruction?” (262). In June 2015, the EPA issues a “first draft” of its fracking water study, concluding that they cannot definitively say whether Range contaminated Stacey and her neighbors’ water (264). The claim of contamination is particularly hard to prove as the Smiths’ clients lack a “pre-drill”—or a water test from before the fracking commenced (264). Such a pre-drill would be definitively prove that the chemicals found in the water only appeared following Range’s fracking.

The Environmental Hearing Board’s judges ultimately rule that they cannot prove that Range Resources had contaminated Buzz’s water. Despite the evidence presented by Kendra of Range’s mishaps, there remains a possibility for most of the judges that the presence of old cars on Buzz’s junkyard were the source of the contamination. Despite this, the judge’s ruling harshly criticizes Range Resource’s “reckless business practices,” which endanger community residents (266). One judge sides with Buzz, writing in the minority opinion that Kendra had demonstrated more than enough evidence that Range had caused the contamination. The ruling causes Buzz and his family to further sink into despair about their situation.

Beth decides to try and have her dog Diva breed a litter of puppies. After the litter is born in September 2015, Beth brings Diva to a nearby stream “to cool off” (270). The next day, many of Diva’s puppies are bleeding and soon die, with Diva suddenly dying several months later. Beth suspects that Range has also contaminated the stream that Diva played in. Beth attempts to press the federal government to continue their investigation into Range, telling them about her dog’s death. However, the federal government seems reluctant to continue its investigation, partially due to the fact that Stacey and Beth’s water is privately sourced, rather than public waters belonging to all Americans.

As the trial drags on, Stacey and her family try to continue with their lives. Harley begins running a “lawn care business,” whose work he enjoys even though the business isn’t especially profitable (273). He also starts dating a girlfriend from his high school, Ciarra. Stacey continues with her nursing work, which often entails treating the growing number of drug addicts in Washington County. As election season descends upon Amity, Trump grows increasingly popular due to his “promises of reviving coal and bolstering the natural gas industry” (276). However, Stacey is apathetic about Trump due to his plans to disband the EPA, and ultimately votes for Jill Stein in the 2016 election.

Amity and Prosperity’s final chapter centers around the 2016 Washington County Fair, which Stacey attends although “coming to the fair drives me crazy now” (278). Range Resources is a major presence at the fair, its logo printed on “baseball hats, shirts, and banners” (278). Range’s fair participation is one part of its practice of charitable contributions to Washington County institutions, which Harley sees as “blood money,” whose aim is to coverup Range’s nefarious business practices (280). Stacey’s case against Range has continued to wage for years, passing from judge to judge with no clear trial date set. Many of the named defendants have successfully argued to be dropped from the case, claiming that they held no “responsibility” to the Haneys and Voyles (282). With no resolution in sight, Stacey and the rest of her family attempt to move on with their lives. Harley begins dating a girlfriend and running a lawnmower business. Stacey has difficulty letting go of her feelings of bitterness and resentment. One weekend, Stacey and Chris go for a short vacation in Maryland. There, Stacey meets a local resident who had been inspired by Stacey’s fight to advocate against fracking in Maryland. 

In the Epilogue, Griswold describes how each of Amity and Prosperity’s central characters are dealing with the legal struggle in 2017. The case remains up-in-the-air, as “settlement talks had collapsed” (289). Though Kendra and John Smith had brought Buzz’s suit against DEP to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, they lost the case—which some bloggers took as a sign that “fractivism [had] lost” (291). While the DEP orders Range closedown the waste pond at the Yeager site, Beth continues to have medical issues from lingering fumes at the site. In May 2017, Griswold visits the Yeager site accompanied by two Range Resources employees. The employees tell Griswold about a number of new protective measures Range has been taking to ensure further pollution doesn’t occur. However, Griswold notices inconsistences in what they are telling her. Griswold then visits the Haney’s new home, where she discusses the case with Stacey.

Both Range Resources and Stacey and Beth finally agree to having settlement talks on January 18, 2018. As Stacey’s and Beth’s families have breakfast the morning of the talks, all are nervous about how the talks will go, though excited to have the lawsuit finally be finished. Both families wait in the Smith Butz law firm’s waiting room while a mediator leads both attorneys to “work out a deal” (304). By the end of the day, a settlement is reached, though as part of the agreement, Stacey and Beth are made to sign nondisclosure agreements, forbidding them from discussing the settlement. However, Griswold notes that “the amount they received left both [Stacey and Beth] feeling angry and defeated” (304).