As we gear up for the Stop the Frack Attack rally in DC on July 28th, we’ll share stories of the victims of fracking. Today we meet the Smiths.
Angela and Wayne Smith are farmers in the rural town of Clearville, Pennsylvania. Before gas drilling companies started threatening their farm in 2007, they successfully raised beef cattle and harvested blueberries.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company approached the Smiths in 2007 with a lease that would allow them to frack next to the farm but the Smiths refused to sign it. When PG&E came back for the second time, they said that if the Smiths did not sign the contract and gas was found on their land, the drillers would be able to drill for the gas anyway without offering any compensation.
Later that year, several storage wells cropped up nearby, and the Smiths’ water problems began. They were horsed to put down a horse after she fell to the ground, unable to move her legs. She suffered from a debilitating neurological problem. The following year, a cow died from the same symptoms. Other animals on the farm have subsequently died. The Smiths firmly believe their animals have died due to the dangerous chemicals in their water from fracking.
The Smiths later discovered methane and arsenic were present in their drinking water. They were forced to buy an $11,000 water unit so that they could have safe drinking water for themselves and their animals. Fracking polluted their aquifer and forced them to pay thousands… but that’s not all.
The compressor station located across from their property (which creates a great deal of noise each day) makes their once serene farm a very unpleasant place to live. In 2009, the compressor station exploded and showered their entire property with oil, including their blueberry crop. The blueberries were contaminated and the Smiths could not sell them.
The Smiths had planned to leave the farm to their grandchildren but fracking has destroyed that dream. The value of the property has dropped drastically since drilling began. When the Smiths bought their farm they had dreams for their family and the life they’d live on that property. But the monetary burden and the direct impacts they have faced due to the drilling company’s haphazard and frivolous destruction has destroyed many of these dreams.
See their story here:
The Smiths’ story is a call to action. We need you to help us fight against fracking on July 28th! Please join us in Washington, DC to fight back against the polluters. Stop the frack attack! Sign up today.
