Excellent clip at link:
Washington County man wins battle to question drilling company over alleged contamination by Paul Van Osdol, August 9, 20024, Action News
A Washington County man who claims his health was seriously damaged by gas drilling has won the right to question the drilling company in court.
Brian Latkanich claims he was sickened by repeated exposure to chemicals, including PFAS, known as forever chemicals.
Chevron, the drilling company, disputes the allegations, but a judge ordered Chevron executives to testify in court.
“I think it’s wonderful that the corporation and their heads are coming here to little Washington County to see me eye-to-eye with my children,” Latkanich said.
Chevron drilled on Latkanich’s property a decade ago, creating massive fracking pits. Latkanich agreed to allow drilling and received royalties, but shortly after the drilling got underway, he said he started having health problems.
Now, he said he is so sick he worries he could die before his case is resolved.
“I’ve suffered a heart attack, and I ended up getting a pacemaker, and I’m now stage 4 kidney failure,” Latkanich said.
Shortly after the drilling began, his son Ryan was covered in blisters and sores after taking a bath.
Chevron investigated and found no water contamination. But two years ago, a University of Pittsburgh team found high levels of PFAS in Latkanich’s drinking water. Last year, tests by the state Department of Environmental Protection found lower levels of PFAS. However, DEP said it could not determine if the PFAS came from oil and gas drilling.
Latkanich and his lawyer said a document obtained as part of their case raises questions about DEP’s role.
In a 2020 email about a soil permit at the Latkanich property, one Chevron employee told another, “All we can do is answer his questions and get Scott Perry to pressure quick turnaround.”
At the time, Perry was the DEP’s deputy secretary in charge of oil and gas operations.
“They had a friend in the DEP in the oil and gas district. They thought they can do what they wanted to do,” Latkanich said.
Asked whether he did any favors for Chevron, Perry said, “Absolutely not. We never did that. This just feels like typical business.”
Perry resigned from DEP in 2022.
Chevron argued in court documents that their executives did not need to testify because a subsidiary was involved with the drilling on Latkanich’s property.
But lawyers for Latkanich found emails from Chevron officials pressuring media organizations not to do stories about his case. Other emails showed Chevron officials trying to show a doctor treating Latkanich was biased against the gas industry.
“In order to continue operations, they have to poison the truth. Well, how do they do that? They attack people’s credibility,” said Lisa Johnson, an attorney for Latkanich.
Chevron declined to comment on specifics of the court case. In a statement, a spokesperson said:
“Protecting people, the environment, and the communities where we operate is a top priority for Chevron, and we have taken Mr. Latkanich’s concerns very seriously. Mr. Latkanich has raised concerns with Chevron and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about various issues since 2011. His repeated accusations that Chevron contaminated his water have been disproved.
“In June 2013, June 2019 and April 2020, the DEP issued determinations that Mr. Latkanich’s water well was not affected by oil and gas activities.
“Chevron sold its interests in the Appalachian basin, plugged the wells, and restored the site on Mr. Latkanich’s property in 2020.”
Latkanich said he looks forward to facing Chevron executives in court.
“I want to put a human face on this. I’m just not a number. My son and I are human,” he said.
Latkanich is in such frail health that his lawyer won court permission to record his testimony in case he dies before the case goes to trial.
The hearing with Chevron executives is scheduled for early October.
Refer also to:
Meanwhile in Canada frac’ers break the law regularly with impunity and enabling by authorities, notably AER, BCER and our courts:
2012: Encana/Ovintiv’s unlined waste pits near Rosebud Alberta:
2012: And when pits not handy, Encana/Ovintiv dumps its waste on croplands:
2011:
