Mar 27, 2014 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – A Center Township farmer testified Thursday that he saw a tanker truck dumping wastewater into a stream near his farm back in 2008 but didn’t connect it with the death of his cattle until he later heard about the fish kill on Dunkard Creek.

George Watson of 1254 Hargus Creek Road, Waynesburg, testified at a hearing before District Judge Lou Dayich on a civil complaint he filed against the Consolidation Coal Co.

Watson filed similar complaints against four others seeking damages for the deaths of 21 head of cattle he claims were caused by natural gas drilling wastewater that was dumped into Hargus Creek.

Dayich heard all five cases and ruled in favor of Watson so far in only one, against Robert Allen Shipman, a New Freeport waste hauler convicted in 2012 of illegally dumping drilling wastewater into a mine shaft and area streams between 2003 and 2009.

Dayich ordered Shipman to pay $12,000, the statutory limit for a civil action before a district judge. Shipman appealed the judgment to the Greene County Court.

At the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing, Dayich said he would review the testimony but was likely to rule in favor of Consol because of lack of evidence.

Watson testified 21 of his cattle died between December 28, 2008, and March 9, 2009. Blood tests completed by a veterinarian came back negative, he said.

The person who took the dead animals away and was required to test the brains and spinal cords told him the animals’ livers were “yellow,” which a veterinarian later said could be caused by a high intake of salt, Watson said.

He said he never thought to test the water in the stream.

“I was not aware there was dumping that could kill animals until the Dunkard Creek fish kill,” he said. “But I do know they were dumping.” The fish kill occurred in September 2009.

Watson said he saw Shipman’s trucks at Hargus Creek a number of times about the time of his animals’ deaths and at least once saw one of the trucks dumping into the creek, though he could not cite a date.

He said he knew the truck was not drawing water from the stream. A hose ran from the truck to the stream. “The truck wasn’t running. You can’t pump water if the truck is not running,” he said.

Watson said he believed Shipman was hauling for Consol because of reports Shipman dumped wastewater down a mine shaft of Consol’s closed Blacksville No. 1 Mine.

But he said he could provide no evidence Consol had a contract with Shipman to haul wastewater.

Watson said he filed the complaints against Consol and the others, Alpha Shale Resources, Dominion Transmission Inc. and the Penneco Oil Co., because he believed they were “all guilty by association, because (Shipman) hauled for all those people.”

Nicholas Godfrey, attorney for Consol, argued Watson’s claim was beyond the two-year statute of limitation and Consol could not be held liable for Shipman’s criminal conduct, even if it had a contract with Shipman for hauling, which it didn’t.

In the criminal complaint against Shipman, CNX, not Consol, was listed as a company that had a contract for waste hauling with Shipman, he said. He further noted Shipman never had a permit to dump waste in the Blacksville Mine shaft.

Godfrey also argued that Watson is limited to a “single recovery” for his claim regarding his cattle and Dayich’s judgment against Shipman barred him from also seeking a claim against Consol.