A family of four who were severely burned in a fracking water well flash fire in 2014 has filed a lawsuit. The water well was contaminated with methane from nearby fracking operations. I blogged about it last year.
This is a tragic case arising from the flash explosion of a private water well that had been contaminated with methane as a result of the Defendants’ drilling and extraction activities. The explosion caused severe and extensive burns to Cody Murray, leaving the thirty-eight-year-old husband and father permanently disfigured and disabled. The explosion of the contaminated water well also caused serious burn injuries to his father, wife, and four-year-old daughter.
Rigorous scientific testing, including isotope testing, has conclusively demonstrated that the high-level methane contamination of the Murrays’ water well resulted from natural gas drilling and extraction activities. Original Petition.
They are seeking monetary relief of over $1 million, which doesn’t seem like much considering the father, Cody Murray, is disabled, disfigured and has no feeling from his elbows down as a result of the fracking water well flash fire.
The suit, filed Thursday in a Dallas County district court, accuses EOG Resources Inc., Fairway Resources LLC and associated companies of negligence, nuisance and trespass leading to contamination of the family’s water well. EnergyWire
As told to EnergyWire the Texas Railroad Commission found “no evidence of oilfield activities contributing to the event,” but they later “cited Fairway and EOG for discrepancies in the cementing records for those wells.” This sounds a little like the Lipsky case.
The attorneys in the case are not relying on the TRC for evidence. They have requested a jury trial.
The case is also a unique example of a severe injury happening to a landowner, as opposed to an oil field worker, he said. According to the complaint, Murray — who worked in the oil industry himself — was permanently disabled and disfigured by the explosion and has been unable to return to work. He has no sensation below his elbows and cannot drive, the filing says. EnergyWire
This should be interesting.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Devastating. My heart goes out to the Murray family, and I’m enraged by the irreversible damage that fracking near their property has caused them. I’m glad to hear that their attorneys are not relying on the untrustworthy TRC for evidence. I hope the Murrays win this lawsuit.
How much more irreversible damage must fracking cause citizens and the environment before this dangerous practice is finally banned nationwide as it is in other countries?
Wonder if Murray has reconsidered fracking near homes? I’d love for him to testify before a city council when they are discussing setbacks, preferably right after Ed Ireland says with a straight face that “330 feet is protective”.