As part of a settlement between a family in Pennsylvania and an oil and gas company, two young children have been banned from ever talking about fracking or the Marcellus Shale, a leading producer in America's shale gas boom.
The $750,000 settlement, which was reached in 2011 but has only just been sealed, imposes a gagging order on the whole of the Hallowich family, including the children who were 10 and 7 at the time.
The Hallowich family had earlier accused Range Resources Corp of destroying their 10-acre farm in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania and putting their children's health in danger. Their property was adjacent to major industrial operations: four gas wells, gas compressor stations, and a waste water pond, which the Hallowich family said contaminated their water supply and caused burning eyes, sore throats and headaches.
The couple told the court they agreed to the settlement because they wanted to move to a new home away from the gas fields, and to raise their children in a safer environment. "We need to get the children out of there for their health and safety," the children's mother, Stephanie Hallowich, told the court.
However, she was still troubled by the gag order. "My concern is that they're minors. I'm not quite sure I fully understand. We know we're signing for silence for ever but how is this taking away our children's rights being minors now? I mean my daughter is turning seven today, my son is 10."
Campaigners say the secrecy has helped the industry resist more stringent environmental and health controls – by burying evidence of water contamination and health problems associated with natural gas operations. The Hallowichs' lawyer, Peter Villari, told the court he had never seen a gag order imposed on children in his 30 years of practising law, according to the released transcript.
However, once that gag order came to light, two years after the August 2011 proceedings, the company told reporters it did not agree with its attorney's comments. "We don't believe the settlement applies to children," a Range Resources spokesman told the Gazette. He went on to tell the paper that there was no evidence that the Hallowich family was affected by exposure to gas development.
