FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 16, 2025
Media Contact: Lisa DePaoli, lisa@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org, 412-229-7116
New Freeport residents appeal preliminary injunction denial, continue legal fight for clean water
U.S. District Court decision based on plaintiffs’ “lack of irreparable harm” reveals massive inequities, leaves residents without a solution
Washington, PA – Nearly a year after its filing, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied a request for preliminary injunction filed on behalf of Greene County residents in the early stages of a class action lawsuit against EQT for damages related to a June 2022 frac-out. Thirteen days after the denial, counsel for the Plaintiffs submitted their notice of appeal to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Court’s decision hinged on whether or not the harm residents are facing can be repaired: “Without minimizing the financial burden… should they have to bear the financial burden of water delivery service…the evidence that Plaintiffs have submitted does not show that the harms at stake in this suit cannot be addressed by money damages.”
“We know that no amount of money can fix the polluted aquifer below New Freeport, that no amount of money can undo the health risk for exposure to contaminated water or the devaluation of property in the area. While there are solutions to residents’ lack of clean water, neither the Department of Environmental Protection nor this Court appear willing to hold EQT accountable by making them pay for those solutions,” said Sarah Martik, Executive Director of the Center for Coalfield Justice.
This case is the result of over three years of work on the part of impacted residents to hold EQT accountable for the communication event that devastated one of this community’s most essential resources. Some residents do have water buffalos that are being paid for by EQT; however, EQT could decide to stop paying for water at any time without any repercussions. Additionally, as EQT has continued to frack at various well pads in the area, more residents have come forward to share their experiences with polluted water. The preliminary injunction was intended to ensure EQT would provide water buffalos to more than just the initial group of impacted residents and ensure that deliveries would continue to be paid for by the multi-billion dollar corporation.
Tonya Yoders, CCJ Community Organizer, said, “Residents were left waiting for a decision for nearly a year, only now to be left with uncertainty around their access to safe water moving forward. We know that many residents – unable to afford water delivery on their own when quoted as high as $400/week for the service – are being forced to use the contaminated water for things that most people take for granted like showering, doing laundry, and watering animals. The fact that residents are in this position is shameful and unacceptable.”
“The court erred by misrepresenting the harms at issue. The court stated that the alleged harm to the New Freeport plaintiffs was the monetary costs incurred from having to buy supplemental water, not the health risks associated from being forced to use their contaminated water. I believe this to be an incorrect application of the law to the facts,” said Seth Sherman, CCJ Legal Fellow.
The case will now move to the appeals court. While not the outcome residents had hoped for, this denial does not necessarily have a negative impact on the lawsuit as a whole. The merits of this case have yet to be decided, and we anticipate the residents of New Freeport will have their day in court.
As regulatory and legal processes continue to allow EQT to evade responsibility, New Freeport and other communities remain mired in regulatory gaps. Freeport and Springhill Township officials have recently stepped in to take on the burden of trying to provide water by signing disaster declarations intended to open up state and federal dollars to be used to install a public water line – estimated by the Townships to cost well over $20 million. This would essentially be another subsidy provided to EQT by taxpayers, when the company should have already been made to pay for the damage done to this community. It is also a taxpayer subsidy for the coal mines that will be advancing into the area in the coming years, which will need the public line for their operations.
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