The Roths own a tract of land upon which the defendants and their service providers are conducting exploration and production operations pursuant to an oil and gas lease. The lease contains a number of provisions relating to the testing of the Roths' water supplies and restrictions on their operations so as not to interfere with the Roths' quality of life. Cabot does not disclose to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection the contents of the frac fluid it uses on the Roths' leasehold. After Cabot begins drilling operations there is a visual decline in the quality of the water in the Roth water well. A DEP inspection of the premises shows a number of violations including holes in the waste pit liner and failure to properly dispose of drilling fluids. A testing of the groundwater under the Roth property shows a substantial increase in the amount of dissolved methane from the pre-drilling test results.
展开▼
