Court Slaps 6 And 10 Year Olds With Gag Order Over $750,000 Fracking Settlement

by Monica Davis

How in the world do you put two children under a gag order? Chris and Stephanie Hallowich, 10 and 7 years old, respectvely, have been put under a gag order and ordered not to talk about their fracking case, or their settlement, literally for the rest of their lives. 

How much psychologcal damage will this order cause these kids? And, yes, they ARE children, who face monsterous health risks, due to a natural gas drilling operation near their  home.

In addition to what ever physical health issues they will face over the course of their lifetimes, they now have psychological risks becase of the breath and scope of the gag order.

Chris and Stephanie Hallowich received a settlement of $750,000 from three gas companies — Range Resources Corp., Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream and Markwest Energy — pertaining to health and environmental damages caused by a natural gas drilling operation near their home. It is not uncommon for large businesses to stipulate that recipients of settlements cannot discuss the damages or terms of the settlement. It is more unusual, however, for the terms of the agreement to extend to children. MOREHERE

This is clearly a case of pay ‘em off, shut ‘em up, and keep drilling. It is also a case of baiting the settlement with a string to yank the settlement back if the children violate the gag order. One reader put it this way: