Can I Sue an Oil and Natural Gas Company?

When fracking hurts farming operations

There is a major concern about the impact of hydraulic fracturing on water supplies in drought-stricken south Texas, especially among those involved in farming and livestock operations. Fracking not only injects potentially harmful chemicals into the ground, but gallons of water as well. Currently it is difficult to determine the exact amount of water that fracking operations take away from south Texas' water supply, but recent legislation is hoping to change that. Many people have a similar concern about these operations and wonder if filing a lawsuit is a viable option.

Fracking requires injecting millions of gallons of pressurized water, sand and chemicals deep into underground shale formations. The mixture breaks up the rock, making oil and natural gas accessible. But it can also dry up or contaminate limited water resources. Studies estimate that the demand for water in the Eagle Ford shale region could increase 10 times from its current level and hit 6.5 billion gallons annually by the year 2020 – only to double again within the next 10 years. There is also a possibility of harmful chemicals seeping into water sources, including aquifers, rivers, creeks and lakes.

Fortunately, state and federal statutes, contract law and tort law provide remedies. Several people from the Houston area and elsewhere in Texas have filed claims of toxic exposure resulting from groundwater and property damage by negligent and reckless corporations and they have been able to be helped. It has been done before, so if it can be proven after a land examination that your property was harmed as a direct result of hydraulic fracturing operations of oil and natural gas companies, then you could be liable to compensation.