Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America

Stacey is the main protagonist of Amity and Prosperity, a book that describes her years-long struggle over fracking with Range Resources in Amity, Pennsylvania. As a piece of narrative nonfiction, Amity and Prosperity focuses on how Stacey’s character is affected and changed by her struggle with the company. At the start of the book, Stacey is an optimistic and hardworking nurse with an active role in Amity’s community life. Born to an extremely poor rural family, Stacey has studied to become a nurse and earn enough money to purchase a home with the water supply that her own family had lacked. Single mom Stacey cares for her two children, Harley and Paige, and runs a farm in her spare time. Stacey initially leases over her land rights to Range Resources in hopes that the money will help her build her “dream barn” (18). However, after fracking begins at the neighboring Yeager farm, Harley develops a debilitating chronic illness, and Stacey begins to suspect her water supply has been contaminated by the fracking. Though Stacey initially hopes that Range will fix the contamination and provide her with a clean water supply, she grows increasingly desperate after Range refuses to take responsibility, and eventually decides to publicly speak out against the company.

Stacey, along with her neighbor Beth, decide to retain two lawyers, John Smith and Kendra, to file a suit against Range for their ongoing air and water pollution. At the same time, Stacey seeks to compel governmental agencies to force Range to clean up the Yeager site, contacting both the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As the case drags on, and the government remains reluctant to charge Range, Stacey grows increasingly hopeless and bitter about her struggle. Stacey is forced to abandon her farmhouse and amasses hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt due to the costs of finding new housing and her family’s medical bills. As Stacey struggles to balance working and caring for her sick children, she withdraws from the community, who largely view Stacey as a greedy opportunist faking her symptoms. Though Stacey believes God is challenging her to motivate her to fight the fracking companies, she also develops a victim mentality, believing herself uniquely “wronged by the world” (244). Though Stacey refuses to back down in her fight, she eventually agrees to a legal settlement with Range Resources, hoping that she and her family can move on from the fracking incident and return to normalcy.

Beth is Stacey’s neighbor and serves as a partner in Stacey’s fight throughout Amity and Prosperity. Beth and Stacey have an informal pact to work together in all of their dealings with Range Resources: They initially sign leases together and later vow to retain the same lawyers in their fight with the company. This partnership is also reflected in Stacey and Beth’s closeness, and both frequently rely on each other for emotional support as they struggle to deal with the consequences of the fracking company. Beth breeds horses and dogs on her farmland, and Beth continually calls Stacey to let her know about her animals’ deaths that seemingly stem from Range’s pollution. As Beth’s daughter, Ashley, succumbs to depression from her family’s lost horses, Beth frequently reaches out to Stacey for advice.

Beth is a stubborn and fiery character, in contrast to Stacey’s more levelheaded dealings with Range. Beth frequently calls both Range’s executives and the DEP and the EPA’s agents, yelling at them and telling them about how Range’s fracking is killing her family and animals. In Chapter 26, Griswold explores how Beth’s willingness to fight is shaped by her background. As Beth and Griswold travel by car together, Beth tells Griswold of her history with an abusive ex-husband in California. Beth’s experience with abuse shapes her entire worldview: “That’s why I can sympathize with people who’ve been abused. You get hit so many times you don’t know if they’re going to come back and really do you in the next time” (231). Rather than succumbing to hopelessness, Beth’s abusive past grants her the tenacity and fortitude to fight against an exploitative company like Range Resources.

Kendra is a partner in the Washington County law firm Smith Butz, and one of two lawyers representing Stacey, Beth, and Buzz in their legal battles with Range Resources and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. When Stacey approaches Smith Butz, Kendra has only just recently joined the law firm, having previously worked as a corporate lawyer defending companies against “workers’ claims of chemical exposure” (112). Kendra’s background offers her a familiarity with cases like Stacey’s, and she brings with her the expertise to evaluate whether Stacey can actually prove that Range Resources has contaminated her water. Likewise, Kendra can also anticipate how Range Resources will argue against their case. Though Kendra is initially skeptical of Stacey’s claims, she decides to defend Stacey after visiting her farmhouse and leaving with “the taste of metal […] on her tongue” (117).

Kendra and her husband John Smith agree to represent Stacey, Beth, and Buzz without pay, only seeking payment from the damages they hope to win from Range. Kendra is diligent and hardworking, bringing case documents along with her to her children’s soccer practices. Kendra develops a system for combing through the dozens of case documents for information and uncovers conclusive evidence that Range’s fracking pond at the Yeager site had repeatedly leaked into the hillside. However, Kendra struggles to uncover a so-called “silver bullet”—evidence that can conclusively link Range’s fracking to the contaminated water supply in her clients’ homes (260). Lacking such evidentiary proof, Kendra eventually works with her clients to settle the case outside of a trial.

John, Kendra’s husband, is a lawyer at Smith Butz law firm. Together, Kendra and John work to represent Stacey, Beth, and Buzz against the DEP and Range Resources. John initially becomes involved in fracking through his work in negotiating leases between Washington County residents and gas companies like Range Resources. While John is initially hopeful that fracking can help bolster Washington County’s struggling economy, his work with Stacey convinces him that fracking companies will only harm local residents. In the book, Griswold focuses on John’s role in his case against Act 13, a Pennsylvania state law pertaining to fracking. The law overrules town’s abilities to reject fracking and allows gas companies to drill fracking wells within close proximity of residential neighborhoods. John develops an argument to challenge the law based on its violation of zoning practices. He joins with other lawyers to fight a legal battle against the law that is eventually heard by the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court. John is pleasantly shocked when the court overwhelmingly rules against Act 13, citing both John’s arguments and Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment in its decision. 

Buzz is a neighbor of Stacey and Beth, living on his mother’s former junkyard “half a mile down the road” from them (131). Buzz lives in a trailer on the junkyard surrounded by old cars and gets his water from a well on the land. When Buzz’s water turns a grey color, he joins Stacey and Beth in their lawsuit against Range Resources. After a DEP test claims that Buzz’s water is not contaminated by Range Resources, the Smiths file a suit against the DEP, claiming they had issued an incorrect test. When Buzz’s case goes to trial, the judges ultimately rule against him, arguing that he lacks sufficient evidence to prove that Range had contaminated the well. Crucially absent is a “pre-drill” test that could show the quality of Buzz’s water prior to the commencement of fracking (133). Frustrated by the lack of governmental accountability, Buzz grows hopeless and cynical about his situation.