The story of Bryan and Ryan Latkanich in southwest Pennsylvania
Timeline of news stories and court filings in the Latkanich case, beginning with a news story from November 2017.
2017-11-22
Special report: How the U.S. government hid fracking’s risks to drinking water
By Susan Phillips | StateImpact Pennsylvania | November 22, 2017 – Six years ago, Latkanich signed on to let an energy company tap natural gas beneath his property by pumping water, sand and chemicals into rock formations, a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Soon after, Latkanich’s well water got a metallic taste, he developed stomach problems, and his son one day emerged from a bath covered in bleeding sores. More recently, Ryan became incontinent. For Latkanich and all those who believe their water has been tainted by fracking, there are few remedies.
Congress took away the most powerful one in 2005, prohibiting the Environmental Protection Agency from safeguarding drinking water that might be harmed by fracking and even denying the regulator the authority to find out what chemicals companies use.
That provision of the Energy Policy Act was justified by an EPA study about fracking into coalbed methane reservoirs, completed under the George W. Bush administration, that concluded that fracking posed no risk to drinking water. Full story
2021-03-01
Fractured: Distrustful of frackers, abandoned by regulators
By Kristina Marusic | EHN | August 4, 2022 –
This is part 3 of our 4-part series, “Fractured,” an investigation of fracking chemicals in the air, water, and people of western Pennsylvania.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa.—For nearly a decade, Bryan Latkanich has been telling anyone who’d listen that allowing two fracking wells to be drilled on his farm is the worst mistake he’s ever made.
He’s a single father on disability who leased his land in 2010 at the height of the fracking boom, thrilled to have two wells 400 feet from his home in exchange for what he thought would be millions of dollars in royalties, only to run into problem after problem.
“I was a total cheerleader for this industry at the beginning. Now I just want to make sure no one else makes the same mistake I did. This has ruined my health and my kid’s health and destroyed my farm. It has ruined my life.”
Bryan Latkanich
The drilling disturbed more land than had been agreed to or permitted, which he alleges damaged the foundation of his home. He caught workers illegally pumping water out of a pit into the woods behind his property. His well water became undrinkable and he and his son Ryan, who was 2 years-old when the wells went in, developed a rash of ongoing, mysterious health issues. The royalties were a pittance compared to what he expected.
VIDEO – Fractured: Distrustful of frackers, abandoned by regulators
Chevron, which owned and operated the two wells, denies any responsibility for these problems, and Bryan has gotten few answers from the state agencies he’s called upon to investigate. Full story
2021-03-01
Environmental Health News – Full Series
Fractured: The body burden of living near fracking
It’s been 12 years since fracking reshaped the American energy landscape and much of the Pennsylvania countryside. And despite years of damning studies and shocking headlines about the industry’s impact—primarily on the state’s poor and rural families—people that live amongst wellpads remain in the dark about what this proximity is doing to their health and the health of their families. A two-year investigation by EHN set out to close some of those gaps by measuring chemical exposures in residents’ air, water, and bodies.
- June 14, 2021 – Following up with families from ‘Fractured,’ EHN’s fracking investigation in western Pennsylvania
2022-08-04
PFAS: The latest toxic concern for those near fracking
By Kristina Marusic | EHN | August 4, 2022 – For more than a decade, Bryan Latkanich has discussed his concerns about fracking chemicals contaminating the water and air near his home with anyone who would listen.
Latkanich is a resident of Washington County, Pennsylvania, one of the state’s most heavily fracked regions. In 2020, an Environmental Health News investigation found evidence that Latkanich and his son Ryan had been exposed to harmful chemicals like benzene, toluene and styrene.
Now, researchers have uncovered more harmful substances in Latkanich’s tap water —“forever chemicals.” Last year it was revealed that these chemicals, collectively referred to as PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances), have been used in U.S. oil and gas wells for decades.
As far as the experts we spoke with know, this is the first time PFAS that may be linked to fracking have been detected in household drinking water.
The chemicals don’t break down naturally, so they linger in the environment and human bodies.
Fracking with “Forever Chemicals” (34-page PDF)
Exposure is linked to health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, liver and thyroid problems, reproductive problems, lowered vaccine efficacy in children and increased risk of birth defects, among others. Full story
2022-11-07
By Paul Van Osdol | WTAE | November 7, 2022 – Bryan Latkanich agreed to allow gas drilling on his property a decade ago, and he received royalties. But shortly after the drilling got underway, he said he started having health problems.
“I couldn’t sleep. I had intestinal problems. I was puking.”
Bryan Latkanich
He said he was alarmed to see what happened to his young son, Ryan, after taking a bath.
“This kid’s covered with blisters and sores, so I jumped in the tub and felt the water and it was probably the most slippery substance I’ve ever felt in my life, so I said well we’ve got a problem.”
Bryan Latkanich
Chevron, the drilling company, gave the Latkanich family water buffalos and did an investigation. Full story
Timeline of court documents
Begins with the most recent on 2024-01-22
What would Rachel Carson say about Fracking her Homeland?
The Energy Age 