''Stephanie Hallowich and Chris Hallowich, H/W, v. Range Resources Corporation, Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream, MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P., MarkWest Energy Group, L.L.C., and

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

'' was a case in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

(Civil Division). The trial was held in August 2011. Chris Hallowich (Born), and his wife Stephanie Hallowich, operated a farm in

Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania Mount Pleasant is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It stands 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. As of the 2010 census, the borough's population was 4,454. The Borough of Mount Pleasant, consisting of th ...

. They sued

Range Resources Range Resources Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It operates in the Marcellus Formation, where it is one of the largest land owners. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 17.77 ...

Corporation, Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream, MarkWest Energy, and the

for compensation for "health and environmental impacts" from "natural gas development operations". In the settlement, the plaintiffs received $750,000 from the sale of their home for the purchase of a home elsewhere, but were required to abstain, along with their two minor children, from ever again discussing hydraulic fracturing or

Marcellus Shale Marcellus may refer to: * Marcellus (name) * Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander Places * Marcellus, Lot-et-Garonne, France * Marcellus Township, Michigan ** Marcellus, Michigan, a village in Marcellus Township ** Marcellus Community Sch ...

. The filed Washington County court document

in the case show that the Hallowich family was represented by Peter M. Villari, Esq. and Robert N. Wilkey, Esq. of Villari, Brandes, Kline,P.C., a litigation firm located in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The case received significan
international notoriety
concerning the issue of First Amendment rights as it relates to confidential settlement agreements, gag-orders, and the constitutional rights of minors within the scope of the natural gas drilling industry, operations, and civil litigation. On March 20, 2011, Judge Debbie O'Dell-Senaca, issued a
Order and Opinion
reversing a prior trial court's order to seal the settlement documents, and ordering that the Court record, including the settlement documents be unsealed. Many of the Defendants in the case subsequentl
appealed
seeking to keep the settlement documents sealed. Eventually, th
settlement documents
in the Hallowich case wer
restored
and made publicly available.

References

External links

Stephanie Hallowich and Chris Hallowich, H/W, v. Range Resources Corporation; Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream; MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P.; MarkWest Energy Group, L.L.C.; and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

* ttp://www.marcellus-shale.us/Stephanie-Hallowich.htm Stephanie Hallowich gas production experiences with Range Resources, MarkWest and Williamsbr>This 7-Year-Old Is Banned From Talking About Fracking—Ever , Mother JonesChildren given lifelong ban on talking about fracking , Environment , The GuardianHallowich Unsealed Court Documents, Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, PA, Docket No. 2010-3954
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephanie Hallowich, H W, v. Range Resources Corporation 2011 in the environment 2011 in United States case law Environment of Pennsylvania United States environmental case law Environmental impact in the United States Environmental issues in the United States Geology of Pennsylvania Hydraulic fracturing in the United States Natural gas companies of the United States 2011 in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state case law