Darrell Smitsky: Washington County PA
Excerpt from “Shalefield Stories - Personal and Collected Testimonies”
Published by Steel Valley Printers
January 2014
Water Contamination: • Toluene • Acrylonitrile • Strontium • Barium • Manganese
Human Health Impact: • Rashes on legs from showering
Animal Health Impact: • Eight healthy goats dead; Fish in pond showing abnormal scales
Darrell Smitsky’s family has occupied their rural home for more than four decades, and prior to Marcellus drilling, their well water was well-known in the area for its excellent quality and taste. Not long after drilling began, the Smitsky’s water started looking and tasting funny, so they quit drinking it. Strange things began to happen around anything associated with water on their property. Darrell had eight healthy goats as Marcellus drilling got underway around him, but over a period of several months, five of the goats died, dropping off one by one. Darrell recalls that tragic time this way, “It was like their back legs became paralyzed, and I would have to carry them into the barn. I tried various supplements and other things, but nothing worked.”
The fish in a small backyard pond began exhibiting strange symptoms as well, with their scales breaking down and becoming translucent, prior to death. Water plants they purchased from a local pond store turned brown and died. It finally became obvious that their well water and surface water were causing these impacts. Even though Darrell’s family began buying bottled water for drinking and cooking, they continued to shower in well water. The Smitskys have developed brown rashes on the front of their lower legs, identical to other shale-fracking victims who live five miles away in Rea, Pennsylvania.
It was originally believed that no gas wells were drilled within a distance of 1,000 feet, but Darrell later learned that his water well was within 1,000 feet of a Marcellus well they drilled on a farm across the road. Since this “less than 1,000 feet” proximity was never revealed prior to these incidents, Darrell’s water well never received the required baseline testing before and after drilling. Why is this important? Drilling is presumed to have caused water well contamination if it occurs within 1,000 feet of drilling within 6 months.
Darrell’s well water tests indicated serious problems that also pointed directly to drilling contamination, especially when compared to other area water well tests close to drilling. Acrylonitrile appeared at an alarming level in Darrell’s water test, being 130 times higher than the permitted level in a Pennsylvania stream.
For Additional inforwmation: www.marcellus-shale.us/Darrell-Smitsky.htm
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