An outfitter who drank contaminated water from a faucet in his cabin north of Parachute more than two years ago has filed suit against two oil and gas companies for allegedly poisoning springs on his property.
Ned Prather and other family members with an interest in his property filed suit in Garfield District Court, asking for unspecified damages from Williams Production RMT and Nonsuch Natural Gas Inc. for leaks that Prather claims have resulted in losses to his outfitting business.
Williams and Nonsuch had pits and tanks above Prather’s cabin for fluids involved with hydraulic fracturing and production water from drilling rigs. After Prather took a drink that burned his throat and sent him to an emergency room in 2008, the springs below those facilities were found to be contaminated with benzene, toluene and xylene — carcinogenic compounds found in fracturing fluids and naturally released during the drilling process.
