Greene County communities issue emergency declaration 3 years after water supply contaminated

Freeport and Springhill townships in Greene County issued emergency declarations three years into a battle for clean drinking water.Township officials say nearby fracking activity was ongoing in the days before the township’s aquifer became contaminated and unsafe.Now, Freeport Township and its neighbor, Springhill Township, have declared disaster emergencies.More than 30 families in Freeport Township alone have a well they haven’t been able to use for three years now.”It’s been three years. We’re still living without water. I’m still buying water,” Freeport Township resident David Hice said.Hice said the contaminated water sickened his dog and damaged his skin. The water buffalo in his yard is now a common sight on a drive through Freeport Township. They’re provided and refilled weekly for more than 30 families by EQT, the natural gas production company. Its job site is visible from the Freeport Township municipal building.”June 19th of 2022, there was a proposed communication event with one of the conventional wells in the township. After that event, we started to see changes in the water system,” Freeport Township Board of Supervisors Chair Gay Hostutler said.”Never went dry, never had no problem. Now you put a pump down here, you can pump it out in less than eight minutes,” Hice said.Since the alleged incident in June 2022, a slew of litigation has followed — most notably the township appealing the DEP’s ruling on the cause of the contamination, and a group of residents filing a class-action lawsuit against EQT.”Put my water back, fix my lines in my house, so I have water I can drink and use. That’s what I need,” Hice said.Hostutler is hoping the emergency declarations could help his community and neighboring communities receive the funding needed to fix their water supply.”Whoever’s at fault, it doesn’t matter to me right now. Our biggest concern is getting water to the residents of New Freeport or Freeport Township, as well as Springhill,” Hostutler said.Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out to both EQT and the DEP with questions.