UPDATES
Washington
County judge orders Marcellus Shale development
settlement records unsealed
By Paula Reed Ward
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
March 20, 2013 -
The
defendants asked that the settlement conference and
documents be sealed, a request former Washington County
Common Pleas Judge Paul Pozonsky granted Aug. 23, 2011.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Washington
Observer-Reporter challenged that decision. Frederick N.
Frank, who represented the Post-Gazette, was pleased
with the opinion. "We feel it's extremely
well-reasoned," he said. "Of particular importance, she
reasserted the burden is on the party seeking to seal
the record and not the media." Further, he continued,
"The analysis of the defendant's privacy rights was,
again, particularly well-reasoned."
According to
a summary of the settlement contained in the unsealed
court records, Range Resources agreed to pay the
Hallowich family $750,000. The settlement also
established an arbitration process to assess any future
claims of personal injury to the Hallowich's minor
children, Nathan and Alyson, that could arise from their
exposure to gas-drilling activities. The defendants have
30 days to file an appeal. Judge O'Dell-Seneca found
that businesses do not have the same right to privacy as
individuals. "Whether a right of privacy for businesses
exists within the penumbral rights of Pennsylvania's
constitution is a matter of first impression," the judge
wrote. "It does not." The defendants claimed they had
the right to privacy to protect the record from being
unsealed.
Text of Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca's order in which she
unsealed the Hallowich case (PDF offsite)
Ruling due on
unsealing gas well settlement
By Don Hopey
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
January 19, 2013 - A closely watched
legal challenge to the sealing of a court-approved
settlement between Marcellus Shale development companies
and the Washington County family that claimed the
industrial operations damaged their health moved a step
closer to resolution Friday. Washington County Court
President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca presided over a
one-hour 45-minute hearing in which Range Resources,
MarkWest Energy Partners and Williams Gas/Laurel
Mountain Midstream Partners argued that their agreement
settling a personal injury lawsuit brought by Stephanie
and Chris Hallowich and their two children should be
kept secret.
"At one point in
the hearing, Judge Seneca admonished the industry
counsel for linking its confidentiality argument to the
protection of the rights of the Hallowichs' children.
"What gives you the right or standing to assert the
privacy rights of the minor children?" Judge Seneca
asked Mr. Binotto. Deborah Goldberg, an attorney with
Earthjustice, a New York-based environmental law
organization, who sought to file a brief in support of
opening the judicial record, said the settlement could
contain important information about the impact of gas
drilling operations on public health. Judge Seneca said
she is still awaiting delivery of a transcript from
state Superior Court, which ruled in December that Judge
Pozonsky erred in denying the newspapers' requests to
intervene and argue that the case file be unsealed.
Hallowich case
returning to
Washington County Court
By Linda
Metz
Observer-Reporter
December
8, 2012 - The state Superior Court in Harrisburg decided
Friday that an attempt by the Observer-Reporter to
unseal a legal settlement between a Mt. Pleasant
Township couple and a group of gas drilling companies
must be heard by a local trial court. Earlier this year,
the O-R and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette filed arguments
seeking the unsealing of the agreement between Stephanie
and Chris Hallowich and Range Resources, MarkWest Energy
Partners and Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream.
The
newspapers contend that sealing the record is in
violation of the common law rights of the media. On
Sept. 6, 2011, the P-G petitioned the court to
intervene, and the O-R joined the petition. Pozonsky
contended that the newspapers should have sought to
intervene in the case before final action was taken to
seal the settlement. As a result of Friday’s ruling, the
newspapers will now have the opportunity to present the
argument in Washington County Court.
LAWMAKER
CHALLENGES PENNSYLVANIA DEP'S REPORTING OF GAS WELL
WATER SAFETY
By
Don Hopey
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
November 2, 2012 - The Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection produces incomplete lab reports
and uses them to dismiss complaints that Marcellus Shale
gas development operations have contaminated residential
water supplies and made people sick, according to court
documents. In response, state Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil,
Thursday called on state and federal agencies to
investigate the DEP for "alleged misconduct and fraud"
revealed by sworn depositions in a civil case currently
in Washington County Common Pleas Court."This
is beyond outrageous," Mr. White said. "Anyone who
relied on the DEP for the truth about whether their
water has been impacted by drilling activities has
apparently been intentionally deprived of critical
health and safety information by their own government."
******************
MORE:
The
letter sent to Rep. White alerting him of these issues
can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821139
The
deposition of TaruUpadhyay, technical director of PA DEP
Laboratory can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821978
Mt. Pleasant OKs dew point facility
June 10, 2012 -
It has taken 3 years for Laurel Mountain Midstream
Operating to get approval to operate its dew point
control facility in Mt. Pleasant Township even though
the facility has been up and running since that time.
"We've lost the right to enjoy our property due to all
the noise and odors," said Rebecca Skirpan, who lives
about one-third of a mile away from the facility.
4-30-12 Press Release: In Fracking Secrecy Court Case,
Newspapers Get Support From Doctors, Scientists,
Advocates
Amicus Brief (PDF offsite)
Firm plans to clean Jan. methanol spill
Newspaper asks judge to unseal Hallowich settlement |