Western PA Couple Says Water Poisoned by Gas Drilling

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

July 12, 2011 | 3:20 PM

Cambria County homeowners Chester and Edith Slesinger have filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh based T&F Exploration L.P. The story appeared today in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. The Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh is representing the Slesingers.
The Slesingers’ problems began in December 2009, after a well was drilled more than 2500 feet from their property. The Tribune-Democrat reported last year that the well had not yet been fracked when Slesinger’s granddaughter complained of salty-tasting water. In addition to total dissolved solids, the water also tested high for barium and chloride. A report from the Department of Environmental Protection concluded that the contamination was not caused by gas drilling.
Sound familiar? Check out our posts on Bradford County resident Crystal Stroud.