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Texas Family Awarded $2.9 Million In Fracking Lawsuit
New submitter martinQblank writes "CNN reports: A Texas family whose home was within a two-mile radius of 22 natural gas wells — one of which was less than 800 feet away — has been awarded $2.9 million by a jury. The family, who suffered from a variety of ailments (including nosebleeds, rashes, migraines and more), was advised by a doctor to leave their ranch immediately and see a physician specializing in environmental health. The defendant in the case, Aruba Petroleum, disagreed with the jury's decision, as did other attorneys who are familiar with the energy sector — calling in a 'knee-jerk' reaction. Additionally the company noted that they had complied with all applicable environmental regulations. The family itself? Still in favor of oil and natural gas extraction: 'We are not anti-fracking or anti-drilling. My goodness, we live in Texas. Keep it in the pipes, and if you have a leak or spill, report it and be respectful to your neighbors. If you are going to put this stuff in close proximity to homes, be respectful and careful.'"
We are not anti-fracking or anti-drilling. My goodness, we live in Texas.
Yeah, we love fracking! Now give us the 2.9 million dollars...
You're still responsible for the damage you cause, even if it's accidental. Your action, your responsibility.
The $2.9 million, minus attorney fees, costs, and taxes, might be just enough to compensate the family for their loss. Keep in mind that if any family members develop cancer or some other ailment later in life as a result of the company's irresponsibility, then that will probably be covered under this award as well.
If it had been an order of magnitude larger, then we could talk about "knee jerk".
The lawyers got a jury to agree. That doesn't mean it will stand; we've all seen verdicts based on emotion that get tossed based on facts.
I have had nosebleeds and rashes, and my mother got migraines when I lived with my parents, there MUST be a secret fracking operation going on near our home. Or maybe one of those wind 'death maker' turbines that is destroying our country! Killing several of our birds every year! Stinking up the view. I, as a citizen, DEMAND inexpensive clean energy, I dont want any of my tax dollars spent on developing it, and I dont want it in my back yard. Is that too much to ask as I sit at home, watching my 80" TV, with every light in my 4000 sq ft house that only myself and my wife live in, or while I drive my massively over powered car through the dirty countryside. Is that too much to ask!?
But why is fracking exempt from the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
With 22 wells nearby, the chances of their water not being contaminated are very low.. Thus industry lifetime Failure rate for these wells runs 30% to 50%!
The industry really needs to step up to the plate and improve their drilling tech and methods. Hopefully more and more juries around the country will impose these costs on the oil and gas industry. Either clean up or get out!!
Personally, we really don't need this fossil fuel tech, when Renewable energy sources are very capable of fulfilling ALL our energy needs . We know fossil fuels are finite.. they're going to run out, sooner or later.. Let's jump into the future and skip over these nasty fault prone energy sources. It boarders to the point of insanity, that the general public hasn't figured this out..
Regulatory capture.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
I think the word you're looking for is "Cheney."
Was OMG the libs have penetrated Texas..
Then I gave it a bit more thought and got over myself. The point of a judgement like this, is that it's supposed to sting. It's a whole lot of money for doctor's bills, but not a whole lot of money if the intent is to punish. It's enough though, that I think Aruba (and others) will take notice. Not very many businesses can write a $2.9M check and walk it off in an afternoon.
But first, I don't see any real evil here. The ground around a working oil well is a messy place. You can't help but spill a little, and there's no malfeasance necessary to occasionally spill a lot (what you and I would call a lot). Every time I get gas, at least one drop hits the pavement, no matter how hard I try to tap it off. I totally believe Aruba when they say they did everything they were supposed to do.
I just think that what they are supposed to do, is probably fine for a well out in the middle of a field, but not good enough for a well in a neighborhood. Texas society, acting through their civil court, has pulled somewhat ahead of their regulations and legislation. And one has to think that eventually society will want wells to be cleaner even when they are out in the middle of nowhere.
So, if I am going to be all small government conservative, and pull for states and local folks to take more control of their lives from the mean old federal government, then I need to get my head right, and totally support this judgment. That means encouraging the oil companies to pay up and clean up, and pull themselves ahead of where they are, and catch up to where Texans now want them to be. They've moved the goalposts on you Aruba, but they have that right. And Texas, please continue to give my my under $4 a gallon gas, but don't poison your state and people while doing so. Thank you very much. :)
Shut up and drink some oil, you commie greentard. The fossil fuel extraction industry is a fucking god, so bow down and take what they give you!
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
They have common health problems
Oh really? Which problem are you saying is common? Having 20 toxic chemicals found in your body?
They are symptoms of low level poisoning and immune disorders.
They are also symptoms of on-going stress, such as being panicked over fracking on (or under) your property. Psychosomatic illness, "Nocebos", negative placebos.
This coincidence of symptoms, and our inability to separate the causes, is an issue in most of these cases. You hear about your favourite brand of soap powder causing obscure immune issues, suddenly you get a rash, then you get migraines and join pain, within six months you can barely get out of bed. Poisonous soap powder, or six months of obsessive worry crippling your immune system? Same symptoms, but do you sue the soap company, or the activist network that caused the stress?
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
Yeah, pretty much this.
We all know that extraction companies do idiotic and careless things and don't give a fuck about safety -- either of their workers or of the environment around them.
We also know that a lot of environmentalists advocate the complete cessation of fracking and drilling even though that makes no practical sense (for now).
And so we've lost the middle ground of wanting a strong extractive industry with strong environmental safeguards and a culture of safety grown up around it. It would be a strategic error for companies to adopt such a policy in a situation where environmentalists are going to oppose them politically and legally anyway no matter what they do. And it would be a strategic error for environmentalists to advocate for responsible extraction given that the companies are going to weasel out of it anyway.
I know where we want to go, I think it's certainly technologically and economically feasible to extract oil and gas without damaging the environment. But the way we pursue it is fundamentally broken on all sides.
[ And none of this is intended to be negative. I consider myself an environmentalist and a technologist FWIW. ]
I have all those symptoms too. Migraine, rashes, nausea, nosebleeds. Who should I sue then?
I don't know. You should visit a medical professional and undergo examination and tests to find the cause of your serious health problems.
I agree some of the chemicals used in the US fracking business are unpleasant but the quantities are very small and like fracking of a one-off nature.
All oil and gas wells produce 'associated' water and it is always a health hazard, similar to the oil and condensate from the same wells.
In other words, when treating the fracking chemicals exactly as the associated water from these wells there is no health hazard at all.
Other countries have regulated the type of chemicals used, this has not at all stopped companies investing in those places, the process depends mainly on water, sand (a ceramic called proppant) and high pressure.
Oh yes, the frack itself costs per well between half an hour and maybe two hours at the most, plus a couple of days rigging up and down.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
I would bet you'd be hard pressed to find a household that hasn't had someone with 1 or all of them at some point in any given 12 month period
You think it is perfectly normal for a family of 3... all 3 of them to start experiencing all these symptoms simultaneously with extreme severity? It doesn't matter how common you think the symptoms are. This is not explainable as a normal phenomenon. It is a definite indication of a problem, possible poisoning. They are also miserable symptoms to suffer.
There are 60 or so chemical elements found in every person on the planet
See this article, Page 2A this article