[GODREKR]

The Hallowich children were just 7 and 10 years old when their family received a $750,000 settlement to relocate away from their home in Mount Pleasant, Penn., which was next door to a shale-gas drilling site. By the time they’re grown up, they may not remember much about what it was like to live there — the burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, and earaches they experienced thanks to contaminated air and water. And maybe it’s better if they don’t remember, since they’re prohibited from talking about the experience for the rest of their lives.

The terms of Stephanie and Chris Hallowich’s settlement with Range Resources included, like most such settlements do, a non-disclosure agreement preventing them from discussing their case or gas drilling and fracking in general. But the agreement’s extension to their children is unprecedented; one assistant law professor at the University of Pittsburgh called it “over-the-top.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:

According to the transcript [of the settlement hearing], the Hallowichs’ attorney, Peter Villari, said that in 30 years of practicing law he never had seen a nondisclosure agreement that included minor children.

And, although he advised the Hallowichs to accept the settlement, he questioned if the children’s First Amendment rights could be restricted by such an agreement.

According to Villari, the settlement wouldn’t have gone forward unless the couple also signed a document stating their health was not affected by drilling operations. So all the record will show, as a spokesperson for Range Resources put it, is that “clearly the Hallowichs were not in an ideal situation in terms of their lifestyle. They had an unusual amount of activity around them. We didn’t want them in that situation.” Man, if you could get $750,000 just for having an “unusual amount of activity” near your home — say, the construction of some microapartments — development-related NIMBYism would cease to exist.

For people whose property values, health, and quality of life have suffered thanks to fracking, settlements like these can be a bitter pill to swallow. In exchange for much-needed compensation for damages, they’re barred from speaking up about their experiences, which slows the spread of awareness about fracking’s potential risks and helps the cycle of exploitation continue. ClimateProgress explains:

The Hallowich family’s gag order is only the most extreme example of a tactic that critics say effectively silences anyone hurt by fracking. It’s a choice between receiving compensation for damage done to one’s health and property, or publicizing the abuses that caused the harm. Virtually no one can forgo compensation, so their stories go untold.

Bruce Baizel, Energy Program Director at Earthworks, an environmental group focusing on mineral and energy development, said in a phone interview that the companies’ motives are clear. “The refrain in the industry is, this is a safe process. There’s no record of contamination. That whole claim would be undermined if these things were public.” There have been attempts to measure the number of settlements with non-disclosure agreements, Baizel said, but to no avail. “They don’t have to be registered, they don’t have to be filed. It’s kind of a black hole.” …

Sharon Wilson, an organizer with Earthworks, said … “These gag orders are the reason [drillers] can give testimony to Congress and say there are no documented cases of contamination. And then elected officials can repeat that.” She makes it clear she doesn’t blame the families who take the settlements. “They do what they have to do to protect themselves and their children.”

The Range Resources spokesperson said the company doesn’t believe this settlement should apply to the children. But according to the hearing transcript, Range Resources’ attorney asserted not only that the order does indeed apply to the younger Hallowichs, but that the company “would certainly enforce it.”

If Range Resources ever gets its official position straight, the Hallowich kids could be released from the gag order. Until then, they better watch what they say on the playground.

Source

Pittsburgh-area shale settlement 'gag' questioned

‘Frack Gag’ Bans Children From Talking About Fracking, Forever

[Darkest Angel]

Bend over & take it. And here's your check. Just get out & shut up.

What are these poor people going thru?

[kellyhound]

That's what all polluting big industries trying to do. cover up their fuck ups by spending money to get rules bent and get signed non-disclosure agreements.

[mcpronoun]

[chefbob09]

[ices]

And they're over here in the UK trying to do the same thing.

Can anybody reasonably say with a straight face that this thing does not poison aquifers and causes damage to the tectonic plates?

[rapeWhistle]

It's easier to shut people up than fight them in court nowadays because it slows everything to a halt and kills the bottom line.

Hydraulic fracturing takes place miles below the surface and doesn't fuck up the ground water(which is usually only a few hundred feet under the surface at the most). The people complaining about this shit live in an area where there is already hydrogen sulfide contamination in the water and natural seepage into the water table. If you want to watch some bullshit, environmentalist, mis-information watch the documentary Gasland.
The guy that did it had an ax to grind with production companies and set out to shut down their business because he didn't get any money when wells were being drilled in the area he lived.
After you've watched that, go watch 'Frac Nation'.
A random Scotsman comes over and objectively disproves all the bullshit that people who know nothing about the industry, the process, or the science behind hydraulic fracturing are led to believe by environmentalists and disproves everything the guy i the Gasland documentary put forth as fact.

Riding buddy of mine is in PA two weeks out of the month as a consultant and says the only people that are against drilling and fracking are a small, bitter minority of landowners that don't have mineral rights to their land and aren't getting any money.

If you think i'm bullshittin', then wait for RedneckR0nin to chime in.

[RedneckR0nin]

Fracking is just like the air travel industry. When one fucks up then everyone and their dog hears about it. But when hundred a day go off without a hitch you don't hear a fucking thing.

rapeWhistle got it right. Most frack jobs are deep and well water only just below the surface. I've ran fracks right in the middle of four ranches pretty much. That depend on their well water. Not a single stitch of water contamination occurred.
As well most people think they have a case against a oil company they go to town.
Bottom line is the push for countries to obtain energy independance, for new and advanced methods of extraction being called for and the progression of natural gas and its uses fracking ain't going fucking nowhere. If any of you don't like it then stop using your cars, all the plastic products, and any petroleum based products or uses...basically your whole house would be gone along with its heating and power sources and 80-90% of your material goods.

So until you get doing that then your nothing but hypocrites. More permanent damage to the earth comes from renewable energy like hydro and nuclear energy than could ever come from fracking. I know that's a bold statement but I stand behind it. The tremendous amount of damage to land by damning and damn construction destroys countless amounts of natural habitats and eradicates indigenous species by the boatloads...but I don't see none of you bitching about that.

[rapeWhistle]

Originally Posted by RedneckR0nin ↗

So until you get doing that then your nothing but hypocrites. More permanent damage to the earth comes from renewable energy like hydro and nuclear energy than could ever come from fracking. I know that's a bold statement but I stand behind it. The tremendous amount of damage to land by damning and damn construction destroys countless amounts of natural habitats and eradicates indigenous species by the boatloads...but I don't see none of you bitching about that.

Typical 'environmentalist':

"I'm against _________, because i heard that it's bad.
We should ban _________, think of the children!!!"

[Darkest Angel]

Originally Posted by rapeWhistle ↗

Typical 'environmentalist':

"I'm against dumping raw sewage into lakes, rivers, and streams, because i heard that it's bad.
We should ban non-recyclable containers, think of the children!!!"

#teamtexasftw