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Reid R. Frazier / The Allegheny Front / StateImpact Pennsylvania
In an unusual case, a court settlement in a high-profile fracking case was made public because of a computer error. The document, dated August 31, 2018, indicates that the gas drilling company, Range Resources, and other defendants have agreed to pay $ 3 million to three families in Washington County, Pennsylvania, who alleged that nearby fracturing had contaminated their properties and made them sick.
The court's document was released under seal, but was discovered last week in a public database by a reporter for the public radio show The Allegheny Front and StateImpact Pennsylvania. After issuing an injunction, Judge Katherine B. Emery ruled on Tuesday that it could be released. the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sues to obtain all of the agreement made public.
Journalist Eliza Griswold explained in detail the family ordeal in the book "Amity and Prosperity", which received the Pulitzer Prize 2019 for general documentation.
Nearly ten years ago, Stacey Haney, Beth Voyles and others said they began to smell foul odors in the air and water at home, according to court records. Haney's son was diagnosed with arsenic poisoning. He and other members of his family visited doctors to complain about nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness, extreme fatigue and rashes.
They suspected a gas drilling site near Range Resources. It included a drill cutter well and an impoundment for sewage fracturing.
In 2012, Haney, Voyles and Loren Kiskadden filed suit against Range Resources, claiming that spills, leaks and other activities at the site had contaminated air, groundwater and water. surface, resulting in consequences on their health and the death of a beloved dog and goat. .
The complaint also alleged that Range Resources and two outsourcing laboratories had committed fraud and conspiracy by manipulating the test results to obscure the plaintiffs' findings.
In 2014, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection fined the company $ 4.15 million for violating six wastewater storage facilities in Washington County, including one near Haney and Voyles houses.
Griswold's book details Haney's eventual decision to move his family from their home for fear of living near a contaminated site. Haney is still the owner of this house. Voyles stayed at home despite her difficulties.
Terms of settlement
The recent public document does not say how much each of the eight complainants was to receive, nor how much Range and 10 other co-defendants in the case had to pay. In a separate statement, Range said the settlement amount was $ 1.88 million for eight people.
The regulation includes:
- a general release of the claims against Range and the co-defendants;
- a clause preventing plaintiffs from making derogatory comments about the defendants; and
- language giving Range Resources the right of first refusal to purchase the properties of Stacey Haney and Beth Voyles, unless they wish to sell or assign the property to the Voyles children
The transaction marked a turning point in a long-standing legal dispute between Range, the pioneer of hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania, Haney, Voyles, and another neighbor, Loren Kiskadden. In November, a few months after the settlement, Kiskadden passed away.
Range denied the wrongdoing and pleaded the lawsuit in court for six years. Both parties eventually entered mediation and agreed to a "Comprehensive Comprehensive Settlement" on January 19, 2018, in accordance with the August 31 order.
After the court's decision Tuesday, Range Resources provided a redacted version of its settlement. In a statement, the company said: "As we believe that the evidence in this case has proven, our operations at the Yeager well site have not impacted the applicant's water supplies. about health."
Investigation in progress
Despite this and other regulations, there may be more spillover from claims that the industrial fracking boom in Pennsylvania has affected residents. The state Attorney General has set up a grand jury to investigate possible "environmental offenses" in Washington County.
The AG's office asked both parties in the Haney v. Tidy case to keep their records, explaining that "one of the potential criminal investigations involves your respective clients". Another woman who had also sued the gas driller testified before the grand jury.
After today's court decision, a Haney attorney and other families issued a statement claiming that "due to this" criminal investigation into the ongoing Grand Jury, we are not in position to comment for the moment ".
Griswold's "Amity and Prosperity" was published in June 2018. Although it does not disclose the amount received by Haney and Voyles in the colony, it is stated that "the amount they received was both made angry and vanquished ", but also offered them" a chance to move on. "
Reid Frazier is a journalist for StateImpact Pennsylvania and The Allegheny front, a Pittsburgh-based public radio program that covers the environment.
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