Title: Gas drilling and the fracking of a marriage
Description: After receiving an offer to lease the farmland of her idyllic childhood summers for natural gas exploration, Stephanie Hamel saw her strong convictions rattled by dreams of royalties and signing bonuses. With a Ph. D in environmental health sciences, she could not ignore the possible ill effects of gas drilling and fracturing ("fracking") of the shale beneath the surface. Her decision was complicated further by Pennsylvania's Law of Capture, which would allow energy companies to collect gas from her property via the neighbor's well without paying her a dime. Stephanie's search for answers turned into an in-depth examination of her responsibility to the earth, her spouse, her neighbors and her children. As she consulted friends, colleagues, officials, and online sources and recalled stories from childhood vacations, she faced hard truths about the inconsistencies of her beliefs. She also tested the patience of her husband, who had no qualms about signing the lease.
Subjects: Gas well drilling, Biography, Science, Family
Places: Pennsylvania, Wellsboro
People: Stephanie C. Hamel