by Robert Wilkinson
Yes, in our “land of free speech” it turns out that an oil and gas fracker has managed to impose a gag order for life on two children, aged 7 and 10, in a family that won a $750K settlement from these disgusting parasites who foul our water and put our health in danger.
Funny how this never made the national media in the US even though the judgment came down two years ago. We found this courtesy of a friend of the site in the UK.
In an article written by Suzanne Goldenberg for the Guardian titled “Children given lifelong ban on talking about fracking” we read that a Pennsylvania family won a $750K settlement in 2011 from Range Resources Ltd., “a leading oil and gas driller,” that also included a gag order preventing the family from speaking about fracking in any way. And that the gag order covers not only the parents, but also their children who were 7 and 10 years old at the time. That means the family can be hauled into court for contempt if their 7 year old even responds to any of her friends talking about fracking, which has contaminated the water supply for that Pennsylvania community.
We read that even the judge had reservations about extending the gag order to children, but the scumbag lawyer for Range Resources Ltd. insisted. From the story:
The settlement, reached in 2011 but unsealed only last week, barred the Hallowichs' son and daughter, who were then aged 10 and seven, from ever discussing fracking or the Marcellus Shale, a leading producer in America's shale gas boom.The Hallowich family had earlier accused oil and gas companies of destroying their 10-acre farm in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania and putting their children's health in danger. Their property was adjacent to major industrial operations: four gas wells, gas compressor stations, and a waste water pond, which the Hallowich family said contaminated their water supply and caused burning eyes, sore throats and headaches....
Campaigners say the secrecy has helped the industry resist more stringent environmental and health controls – by burying evidence of water contamination and health problems associated with natural gas operations. The Hallowichs' lawyer, Peter Villari, told the court he had never seen a gag order imposed on children in his 30 years of practicing law, according to the released transcript.
During the proceedings, the attorney representing Range Resources, James Swetz, reaffirmed the company sought the gag order on the children. "I guess our position is it does apply to the whole family. We would certainly enforce it," he told the court.
Now that it’s taken 2 years for knowledge of the gag order to come to light, thanks to a Pittsburgh newspaper, the company’s official position is that “We don’t believe the settlement applies to children.” Right. They’re upright and honorable polluters who would never restrict free speech. Except that they have and continue to.
Frackers are pretty much like roaches. They create a disgusting mess, and then scurry into hiding behind gag orders when the light of the Law shines on them. And of course, Range Resources continues to insist “there was no evidence that the Hallowich family was affected by exposure to gas development.” Right. Because they say so, and because oil and gas frackers always love to pay three quarters of a million dollars to people who have not suffered damages. Right.
These oil and gas parasites can run, but they cannot hide. And you can bet that as fracking continues to create earthquakes, (even more at the article Regulators Confirm Fracking Caused Earthquakes in Ohio and Arkansas) the polluters will keep seeking gag orders while paying huge settlements for polluting water supplies and making the ground shake. The only way it will stop is when the settlements are in the tens of millions rather than hundreds of thousands. It seems having to pay large amounts of money is the only thing that gets the attention of the polluters and their scumbag attorneys.
© Copyright 2013 Robert Wilkinson
Cancer-5 here; Thanks for posting this important story Robert. I run Watchdog Progressive which reports on fracking daily. WPNewswatch and Twitter handle: watchdogsniffer
Posted by: Beth in SoCal | August 07, 2013 at 03:29 PM