The Real Cost of Fracking by Michelle Bamberger, Robert Oswald

predrilling tests on these substances, it’s hard to say if drilling was the cause of these elevated levels in their well water. However, it is unlikely that methane levels were this high before drilling began. Before drilling started, Jesse never had a cucumber blown out of her hand while cleaning it under the faucet, and their water didn’t look like fizzy milk, which in drilling areas is often due to the presence of fine methane bubbles. According to recent research, the average methane level in water in nondrilling areas in Pennsylvania is 1.1 milligrams per liter. 3 According to a test the PADEP conducted in November 2011, methane levels of Samantha and Jesse’s well water reached 14 milligrams per liter, which is above the level deemed to be safe by the US Department of the Interior. 4
    Samantha and Jesse moved to Bradford County with the dream of breeding Newfoundlands in the country, where the dogs would have fresh air and clean water, and plenty of space. But they also dreamed of becoming farmers: raising calves and chickens, growing their own crops, producing their own food, and making crafts for the local farmers’ markets.
    When they first arrived at their new home in 2006, they had several cats and three Newfoundland adults and one puppy. Soon after that, Samantha acquired Piglet. I quickly learned that Piglet has a fierce desire to be photographed and to preach to the choir. Although I must admit that I’m not sure what Piglet was trying to say, I did enjoy taking photographs of him. Piglet now shares his shed with some of the chickens that were purchased in 2007 and kept free-range for egg and meat production. In 2009, Samantha and Jessie purchased two bull calves and raised them for meat.
    During 2007 and 2008, Samantha and Jesse were in heaven: they were establishing themselves as breeders of top-notch Newfoundlands, and they were making a serious go at being farmers—and enjoying it. They bought more dogs and had litters on schedule—their breeding was going well and all the animals were healthy. But they left nothing to chance. In addition to regular health checks on all the dogs and puppies, they stayed with the pairs during breeding, ensuring good locks—when the male and female are end to end, and mating occurs—and preventing injury by literally wrapping their arms around the dogs, holding them together for fifteen to twenty minutes. To stay with the dogs as they gave birth and to watch the puppies afterward, Samantha and Jesse converted their basement into a maternity ward and added a comfy couch, a TV, and a fridge, so they could be with their dogs 24-7.
    Samantha explained that some breeders leave the pups with the bitch and walk away. “They’re so large, it’s almost like raising pigs. They may lie down on two puppies and not realize it. It’s critical for the first seven days—we don’t take our eyes off of them, because it’s our livelihood. We pull the pups off mom, put them on a scale, make sure they’re gaining weight, then put them back with mom, making sure they have a good suckle [reflex].”
    In the summer of 2009, Caesar, the stud they had brought with them as a puppy from Philadelphia, failed to produce litters. Previously, all six of Caesar’s breedings had resulted in successful litters. As they could not afford to have Caesar medically evaluated and tested, they continued to breed him, but finally gave up and had him neutered and adopted in June 2011. At this time, Livia, a four-year-old female that had produced normal litters up until this time, had two stillborn puppies out of a litter of six, and developed rashes on her chest and stomach, and ear infections, as did many of the other dogs. During the next two heats, she was bred but failed to become pregnant. Like Caesar, she had been one of the original breeders at the farm, and like Caesar, she was neutered and adopted.
    Since then, six females and five studs—three of these five studs brought in from areas where