It appears that the Los Angeles Times needs to bump up their circulation numbers, so this past Sunday they trotted out the “Dimock” story once again (perhaps inspired by watching Gasland 2 on HBO). The Times claims to have a leaked “internal report” from the EPA, which we learn is (laughably) a PowerPoint presentation, not a real report. The article’s fictional thesis is that “big oil” has gotten to the Obama EPA and that at least some brave souls inside the EPA still believe, contrary to their own scientist’s research, that shale drilling in Dimock, PA was responsible for “contaminating” nearby water wells with methane and nefarious chemicals like arsenic–even though arsenic is naturally occurring throughout the region. (Pay no attention to those naturally-occurring chemicals behind the curtain, Toto!)
MDN would like to make a bold assertion: The LA Times emperor has no clothes. We’ve searched high and low and the so-called PowerPoint “EPA report” they claim to have possession of is nowhere to be found. We think it probably exists. Maybe. Perhaps. However, what we have is the LA Times making a wild claim–their own interpretation–of what is on the PowerPoint slides, without sharing the source document with anyone else. Given the Times and its reporters are liberal and anti-drilling in the extreme, excuse us if we say that until they share the so-called EPA internal report, we assume they’re lying about what’s in it. The motives and veracity of reporting by the Times is to be questioned and is, for us, the real story here…
