Woman Sues Gas Driller, Claims Water Tainted
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
30 October 2010
By staff and wire reports
A woman is suing natural gas driller Chesapeake Energy Corp., claiming
that drilling near her rural home has fouled the water with methane and
other pollutants and created a rash of health problems since 2009.
Judy Armstrong's lawyer, Peter Cambs, said the lawsuit, filed in state
court in Bradford County on Wednesday, asserts that the woman has seen
her water supply contaminated with methane, barium and other irritants
that have left her with pain, numbness, cracking skin on her hands and
headaches.
Chesapeake spokesman Brian Grove said Thursday the company had not seen
the lawsuit and he could not comment.
The state Department of Environmental Protection views the potential
for contamination by methane, a highly flammable gas, as among the most
serious risks of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation, which
is primarily beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio.