$600-Million Fracking Company Just Sued This Tiny Ohio Town For Its Water

[Panich52]

ClimateProgress

A tiny town in eastern Ohio is being sued by an Oklahoma-based oil and gas company that bought more than 180 million gallons of water from the town last year. That water use, combined with a dry fall, prompted the village to temporarily shut off water to Gulfport Energy. Now, a second company has a water agreement, and there might not be enough water to go around.
Gulfport Energy alleges in the lawsuit that the village of Barnesville, population 4,100, violated its agreement to provide water from its reservoir by entering into a contract with oil and gas company Antero Resources. Gulfport says the village’s contract with Antero allows for withdrawals beyond what Gulfport is allowed to take.
Gulfport’s water supply can be shut off whenever water levels in the reservoir create a risk to the health and safety of the village residents and businesses. Last fall, the reservoir was down three feet below average when village officials stopped all outside withdrawals.

...

But here’s the catch: Only Gulfport pumped water out of the reservoir last year. So even though, as Harper admits, the Antero contract has “a little bit of a priority” over the Gulfport contract, that’s not the reason Gulfport’s water supply was shut off. During the unusually dry fall, water withdrawals by Gulfport alone were too much for the reservoir to sustain.
Environmentalists stress how valuable water is in the area, and particularly how valuable the reservoir at the heart of the lawsuit is. The water being sold to Gulfport comes from the Slope Creek Reservoir, which supplies water to all the town’s residents as well as another 8,000 people in neighboring areas, said John Morgan, a spokesman for Concerned Barnesville Area Residents.

More
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/24/3637048/fracking-all-the-water-away/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3

[Sarcastica]

1. I did environmental permitting work related to a pipeline project in the area last year.

Barnesville is such a cool little town, with tremendous architecture and kind people. Fracking is killing the culture and landscape of West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan. They sell their souls for pennies and the harm is irreparable. You'd think the example that they have from coal would act as a warning but they are getting screwed and they are lining up for the priviledge.

[Panich52]

3. Now they want huge pipelines thru Natl Forest in WV. One guy bought 650 acres to keep as a preserve

(and home) and is battling to keep pipeline out. (I posted from FrackCheckWV in WV group -- 'domain battle')

[Romeo.lima333]

2. greed is a blinder

[RiverLover]

4. How is it we aren't all rising up to fight this kind of thing??? Why isn't this front page news?

How are we justifying corporations profits trumping basic citizen's rights & health?

Corporate Rights are trumping Community Rights. All across the country.

(And btw, I'd like to know how is it Democratic Party leaders are backing a presidential candidate who "sold fracking to the world". This isn't the way to change things for the better)

[mackdaddy]

5. They must have WAY underpriced the water on this deal

and the city will probably have more than the 75 thousand they got in the deal for the water that they will now have to pay out in legal bills.

Reminds me of the deals Enron was getting in the "smartest guys in the Room" stories. And the old saying if you look around in a poker game and can't figure out who the mark to get fleeced is, then it's you.