15 families in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit against Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation.
The families all live along Carter Road in Dimock Township and say Cabot has basically ruined their lives, at least for the time being.
They say before cabot came in their water supply was fine.
Since Cabot started work they say their water supply is unusable for drinking.
In some cases washing clothes and bathing can't be done with it.
Attorney Alan Fuchsberg (few-ks-berg)says Cabot has been negligent, including by letting chemicals in holding tanks seep into the ground and not preventing other spills on drilling sites.
Alan says, "Time after time they have drilled either too close to the water supply or penetrated through the underground water supply in such a way that they have permanently contaminated the underground water supply so the gas now flows into the water supply and none of the drinking water is usable. In addition the gas is highly combustible. There has been one explosion at a home."
The families say water and health problems caused by the drilling have taken a financial toll on them.
And, say they don't have the money to correct the problems Cabot has caused.
The families say they haven't received much in royalties either.
One homeowner says he has only gotten 45 dollars in 10 months.
Another one says he has only received a fraction of the 7 thousand dollar water treatment system he had to buy, which turned out not to make the water safe.
Ronald Carter says, "I went to Cabot and asked if they could help us. The guy I talked to out of West Virginia says it isn't something we caused. It's a natural occurance, surface water got into your water system. I said, 'in other words you're not going to help us at all?' He said, absolutely not, we don't feel we caused it."
A monetary amount is not on the lawsuit.
Cabot says it sees no merit in the families claims.
A spokesman says he believes people in the area are hardworking and honest.
And, says Cabot has offered temporary replacement whole house water supply systems to some families, most of which have accepted, while an investigation is done into the contamination of methane gas.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is in on that.
