WPX obtains order to remove buffaloes

BY STACI WILSON

WPX Energy plans to return to a Franklin Twp. home on Monday – this time coming with a court order – to disconnect the water system that has been in place since March 2012.

After being blocked from removing a water buffalo at the Hadlick residence on Nov. 1, the natural gas drilling company opted to seek a court order to enter the property located on Route 29 in Franklin Forks.

The Hadlicks and two other families maintain natural gas drilling contaminated their water wells.

WPX Energy spokesperson Susan Oliver said the families had been given 90-days to acquire their own water supplies. She said WPX offered to bring the water wells back online but the families declined that offer.

After a 16-month investigation, DEP found earlier this year that natural gas drilling was not responsible for the contaminated water in the community located about five miles north of Montrose.

The Tulsa, Okla. company decided the Hadlick’s and the other two families experiencing issues needed a permanent solution to the water problems instead of the temporary system put in place by the gas driller, Oliver said.

The company began supplying water to three residents in March 2012, those deliveries were halted in the months following the DEP investigation.

WPX spokesperson Susan Oliver said the attorney acting on behalf of the family set the Dec. 16 date for the removal of the equipment. She said WPX offered for the families’ to purchase the equipment but had been told they already had equipment or equipment had been ordered.

In November, WPX employees and contractors were met by demonstrators at the property.

She said the company has received emails from individuals purporting to reach out to WPX on behalf of the Franklin Twp. families, but she said the company is not negotiating only through the families’ attorneys.

Oliver said WPX and contractors will be on hand to remove the water buffaloes Monday morning and the company is prepared to fill up the water tanks once with potable water.