Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold is an excellent, balanced exposition of the history of the fossil fuel industries in southwestern Pennsylvania and the recent effects that one of those industries , the natural gas fracking industry, had on a couple of families in the area.

Stacey Haney and her two children, Harley and Paige, live on a small farm in Amity, PA, next door to Beth and John Voyle, and their daughter, Ashley. Both families enjoy hard work, the outdoors, and working with animals. Stacey also works as a nurse at the regional hospital. When the natural gas boom arrives in their area, Stacey and the Voyles decide to get involved to make some money off of their land, and also do the right “Patriotic thing” for the country.

It doesn’t take too long before they have to consider whether they’d made a deal with the devil. A nasty odor permeates the air, animals and the children become sick, and their water becomes foul and unpotable. When they complain to the gas company, Range Resources, the company denies any responsibility, even claiming there isn’t even a problem.

Griswold covers the struggles of the Haney’s and Voyles, a few other neighbors, and a heroic husband and wife legal team as they battle for their health, their homes, their land, and their reputations in the community. Their foes are a company with deep pockets and government bureaucracies, local, state, and federal, seemingly aligned against them. Griswold unfolds the narrative in a straight-forward way, providing an in-depth examination of the legal and emotional aspects that guide industry practices in the United States, often at the expense of the people they’re intended to help.

Griswold does a wonderful job showing the spirit and industriousness of the people of southwestern Pennsylvania. I grew up in SW PA. The people there are a proud people who enjoy working. They’re a communal people who support each other. My dad and most of my friends’ dads worked in either the coal and the steel industries as they faded and left thousands of families wondering where their next job or meal was coming from. After decades of work, some employees found they didn’t even retain the pensions they were relying on. Griswold shows that pain.

Highly recommended.
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Informative, maddening and heartbreaking. ( )

Amity and Prosperity, by Eliza Griswold, was the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner for General Nonfiction, and describes how fracking waste​-ponds contaminated air and water wells of several neighbors in southwest Pennsylvania. While many neighbors remained unaffected by fracking operations in the region, several families began to suffer health affects, and blamed local fracking operations on their troubles. They were able to document poisons, contaminants, and carcinogens in their air and drinking water, but made the mistake of not having their water measured for impurities before fracking began. Thus, the fracking company argued that the contaminants could have come from a number of other sources, and ​denied liability for the families health issues.

This book points out that the ​odds are against t​​he small individual customer when taking on a huge corporation with millions of dollars ​behind them, as well as having a great degree of influence with local and state politicians. The number of individuals who can mount a successful court case against such an opponent are few to none. And that was shown to be the case in Amity and Prosperity. ​Simply finding a law firm willing to take on a case against an environmental polluter is difficult, given the amount of up-front money required to mount a successful lawsuit. Large companies can drag out legal cases, adding costs to the plaintiff, while health affects continue to be felt​ and it becomes impossible to live in or sell your house​ due to contamination. ​

The book provides a negative look at fracking operations in general, but also of State and Federal Environmental and Health Agencies responsible for monitoring health impacts on local citizens and holding large corporations accountable. Just as Mona Hanna-Attisha pointed out in her book What the Eyes Don't See about the Flint, MI water crisis, and Dan Fagin described in his book Toms River about a cancer cluster in south Jersey, local agencies can be ineffective in protecting citizens from pollutants, and may be limited in their effectiveness due to personnel and budget shortfalls and political pressures. ​ ​ ( )

Fracking comes to Pennsylvania where small towns of Amity and Prosperity are looked at as the gas boom enriches some but sickens others. Stacey Haney's family is followed as they fight Range Resources as they fall ill from living below one of Range's drill sites.

What a book! Eliza Griswold tells the story in a straightforward manner. She has documentation listed so you can check it out for more details. She did a through job in telling the story of how a town takes sides.

I felt so bad for Stacey and her family and her neighbors, the Voyles, as they fight for their rights for clean water and air. Looking back on everything it started with the death of their animals and Stacey's son, Harley, illnesses. Stacey is constantly taking Harley to the hospitals in Washington, PA, and Pittsburgh. Stacey starts keeping records of taking Harley and smells in the air and things that aren't right with their water and problems in the house. Beth Voyles does the same. They call the EPA and DEP but, while they pay lip service, nothing is done. Oh, Range, eventually does get fined, the fines are so small compared to how much they are making from fracking.

I was appalled by how Range Resources got away with destroying the environment and can walk away. I also was angry by how the taxpayers of Pennsylvania will end up footing the cost of Range doing business--repaving roads, cleaning up and reclaiming drilling sites (even though Range is supposed to put everything back as it was when they finish), medical costs for those sickened (if they don't have insurance.)

Eventually Stacey and Beth hire attorneys, the Smiths, to have Range admit negligence and give them clean water and stop fracking above their homes. Stacey has to move from her home it is so bad. Beth stays but develops severe health problems. Their children are impacted negatively with physical and emotional illnesses. For years the lawsuits continue. I was disgusted by how DEP acted towards the Haneys and Voyles, how they sided with Range Resources. They were to protect the public, not big business.

I was shocked how Range tried to find out who was paying the Smiths. I could not believe the accusations Range made against charitable organizations and environmentalist organizations in the region. The Smiths basically were doing this pro bono with payment if a settlement was achieved. I liked how they were crusaders, going after the Commonwealth when Act 13 was passed to ensure that the public was put first and not gas and oil companies.

I was saddened about how Amity was split. It seemed that those who were paid large sums by Range did not believe Stacey, who had grown up with them. It seemed that once the money started rolling in, many forgot how a small town worked--they all helped one another and supported one another. That seemed to end the longer the lawsuits dragged on.

It was a shame that the lawsuits never went to trial. Settlement was made with gag orders in place about it. I think a jury would have found for Stacey and Beth but I can understand the stress of living with something this big hanging over their heads, how it wore them down and took over their lives.

I hope that Stacey and her family and Beth and her family are followed over the years. I want to know what happens to them--how their health and lives are affected from the chemicals they breathed and drank.

I agree with Harley. The money (all of it) was blood money. His life was ruined and he could not get back what he lost--his health, his ambitions, his dreams. They were all gone. He moved on but he has a different outlook. He has matured fast and knows the agencies put in place to aid the public don't. His innocence was lost. His is right. Greed won. ( )

This is a well researched study about several families (one in particular) in Western Pennsylvania in their fight against the power companies located there. Fracking is the main issue and all the side effects it causes to people and livestock. Dogs die, children get sick and the citizens fight an uphill battle against corporate America and in some cases the government agencies that are supposed to protect them..It is a real heads up warning about the power of the oil and gas industries. Great book. ( )