Guy Hostutler, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said, “I'm not blaming anybody for anything that they've done, right, wrong or indifferent.
“It's just the fact that if it's just one resident or 100 residents without drinking water, it's not right.
“In 2025, we should not have residents who can't drink their water. We should be able to have good, clean drinking water, a sustainable water system for them to live off of the rest of their days.
“So that's been my whole purpose for this. It's been a battle.”
Hostutler said the Township began to get reports in late June 2022 of “discolored water, pungent odors in water and people said that their pets wouldn’t drink it.”
On June 19, 2022, EQT reported a “possible communication” [a.k.a. “Frack-out”] incident between its 13H lateral shale gas well and an abandoned conventional oil or gas well while fracking two new wells at its Lumber pad in neighboring Springhill Township.
[Read DEP’s June 23, 2022 inspection report with initial violations for the incident + EQT’s response]
A “frack-out” occurs when millions of gallons of fracking fluid is pumped down a shale gas well under pressure to fracture shale rock to promote natural gas flow, but instead finds another oil and gas well or water well and follows that well up to groundwater aquifers and sometimes blows out on the ground surface like a geyser.
The abandoned well EQT referred to was the Fox Hill 1 conventional well in Freeport Township very close to the community of New Freeport in the Township.
On August 11, 2022, EQT said after its investigation, the company “adopted” and now owns the abandoned well and said it would take steps to permanently plug it.
In November, 2022, DEP issued multiple violations to EQT for failure to plug the Fox Hill I well DEP said in its inspection report “was altered by hydraulic fracturing.”
[Note: After additional testing in 2024, EQT began plugging the well in December 2024. They ran into significant problems with plugging because of damage to the well and are still working at it as of August 21, 2025.]
Hostutler said since the June 2022 incident, approximately 100 people with contaminated water wells are now on water buffalos, temporary water supply tanks that are filled as needed to supply water to homes for all uses.
The Township has a population of about 238.
“I know that there are other individuals in the community who do not have buffaloes that are trying to figure out how they're going to get water,” said Hostutler.
Hostutler said he is familiar with the kind of water contamination oil and gas operations can cause because he worked in the industry for 25+ years.
Hostutler characterized the June 2022 incident as a “bright line.”
“We had no complaints of any issues with any shallow wells, whether they be oil and gas or water until after the event on June the 19th of 2022,” said Hostutler.
Oil and gas inspection records from DEP back that up.
Between June 1, 2022, and August 26, 2025, DEP’s Oil and Gas Inspection Database shows DEP did 142 inspections in the Township.
From January 1, 2021 to June 1, 2022, DEP did five inspections in Freeport Township and recorded no complaint investigations of any kind and no violations at oil and gas wells.
DEP records show there are a total of 41 oil and gas wells in the 8.1 square miles of the Township-- all conventional, including five abandoned wells..
You Can’t Live Off Water Buffaloes
Residents of the Township still don’t have permanent replacement water supplies.
“Living off of water buffaloes year-round is not a sustainable way to live,” said Hostutler.
Hostutler said people have moved out of the Township because of the water issues and took a big loss on their properties.
He added residents of Springhill Township to the west and Gilmore Township to the east are also having problems with gas related water well contamination after the June 19, 2022 incident.
Grant Allison, solicitor for Freeport Township said in May of this year, a water well serving the Township Building began to have problems.
“We began to monitor the well in question that the Township uses, their own water supply. And I guess it would be around May, the Township noticed that the quantity levels of the water supply started to go down,” said Allison.
“So there was now a quantity issue related to the aquifer,” Allison explained.
A Different Play
Hostutler said, “I played organized football for 14 years, and I looked at it from the standpoint of when you run the same play every time and then you punt on fourth down, sooner or later you got to change your strategy.”
“And we eventually got to the point we were tired of beating our head against the wall. And it got to the point where I sat there one night and I couldn't take it any more,” said Hostutler.
“And I said, ‘We've got to do something that's out of the precedent here. We've got to get people to realize that this is a problem and that this is a problem for the state of Pennsylvania. And it's not only for the locals in the county, but also for the state of PA.’"
“And so I sat down at 12:00 at night, wrote out the declaration, sent it to our solicitor,” said Hostutler. “He calls me the next morning and wants to know what this is, and I said, ‘This is our only option I can see. We've got to gain some traction. We've got to get people to see it.’
"We felt that we had to do something to try to get water for our residents," said Hostutler. "So we started getting calls from the residents asking what they could do."
Greene County Steps Up
“After we did the declaration, I was in contact with [Greene] County,” said Hostutler. “I was in contact with the county because they were working to try to get funding to get us water throughout that timeframe while I've been in office. But there was not much traction to get the water.”
“We had no longwall [coal] mining going on. There were no issues with the drinking water,” Hostutler said.
“[Greene] county stepped up and they have the engineer who is laying out the plan. We have two options we're looking at and they're laying forth the plan,” said Hostutler.
“That'll take probably two to five months to get all that done.
“So once we have a plan in hand, we can immediately start going after some funding to where we can start the process,” said Hostutler.
He said they have already had meetings with their state House and Senate members and members of Congress.
Another round of meetings is planned after the plan is ready from Greene County.
The Plan For 3 Townships Impacted
Hostutler said a water line is being planned to come in from Jackson Township-- north of Freeport Township to areas with gas related water well contamination in Freeport, Springhill Township to the west and Gilmore Township to the east.
$6 million has already been approved to bring the water pipeline part way through Jackson Township toward Freeport.
Although there are no final numbers and many details needed to be figured out, Hostutler said estimates have run between $21 and $25 million for the entire project.
Hostutler said drilling new wells is not an option in this case.
“I don't feel that drilling new wells will do anything, because our aquifer, based off of historical data in utilizing the depths of some of the wells in the Townships, our aquifer varies between zero to 200 feet deep.
“So, in the area where it's contaminated, drilling another well, I mean, you may find a water source that's not affected by these contaminants, but to me, I think the only option is going to be a piped water system moving forward,” said Hostutler.
We’re A Family
“It is a large area but yet, we're all family,” said Hostutler. “The people that live in Springhill, I know 90% of them. The ones that live in Freeport, I know 90% of them. Gilmore, I know 90% of them.
“So we've all lived there together. We've party together. We've drink together. We've had Christmas together. We're a family.
“At the end of the day, you wouldn't want your own family to go without any sustainable water system. Why would we expect it to go for anybody else?”
Springhill Township Considering Disaster Declaration
Springhill Township is considering declaring a Disaster Emergency like the one in Freeport Township because they have residents with water wells impacted by a gas related water contamination event.
Text Of Disaster Emergency
The following is the text of the Disaster Emergency adopted by Freeport Township Supervisors, Greene County on June 23, 2025--
WHEREAS, on or about June 19, 2022, a contamination event caused by actions of EQT has caused or threatens to cause injury, damage, and suffering to persons and property of Freeport Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, the “disaster” has endangered or will endanger the health, safety and welfare of a substantial number of persons residing in Freeport Township, and threatens to create problems greater in scope to the Aquifer underlying Freeport Township and where Freeport Township may not be able to resolve without the appropriate public and/or private funds; and
WHEREAS, there is no public water system located in Freeport Township that the residents of Freeport Township can use; and
WHEREAS, multiple residents since June 19, 2022, noticed discoloration, odor and skin rashes when use water from their private wells; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Environmental Protection and EQT production have been notified in writing that the water is hazardous and unsafe for use; and
WHEREAS, the test results of the water supply show contamination associated with conventional wells of the Township and adjoining Townships; and
WHEREAS, the Freeport Township Board of Supervisors believes it to be in the best interests, safety and welfare of its residents to adopt this Resolution.
NOW THEREFORE, we, the undersigned Supervisors of Freeport Township, pursuant to provisions of Section 7501 of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Services Code, (35 PA C.S. Section 7501), as amended, do hereby proclaim the existence of a disaster emergency in Freeport Township.
FURTHER, Freeport Township Board of Supervisors direct the Freeport Township Board of Supervisors to coordinate the activities of the Emergency response, to take all appropriate action needed to alleviate the effects of this disaster, to aid in the restoration of essential public services, and to take any other emergency response action deemed necessary to respond to this emergency.
STILL FURTHER, we authorize officials of Freeport Township, Greene County, Board of Commissioners and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to act as necessary to meet the current demands of this emergency, namely: by the employment of specialist to identify the cause and the extent of the contamination of the water supply and the Aquifer serving the Township residents and to construct a public water supply to Freeport Township.
This declaration shall take effect immediately.
ENACTED AND Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Freeport Township This 23rd day of June, 2025.
FREEPORT TOWNSHIP BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Guy Hostutler, Chairman
Timothy Brady, Vice-Chairman
James Gillin, Supervisor
Barbara Curry, Secretary/Treasurer - ATTEST
(Maps: DEP showing shale gas well laterals from the EQT Lumber (13H well fracked-out) and Spleen Splitter shale gas well pads - Red Dot Is Fox Hill 1 conventional well impacted by fracking, The grey boxes to right on the map are longwall coal mining panels; Below - General location map; DEP map shows all conventional (blue dots) and shale gas (red dots) in and around Freeport Township - Yellow X is Fox Hill 1 conventional well impacted by fracking)
Resources Links - Freeport Frack-Out:
-- Oil & Gas Industry Impacts: Families Affected By Alleged ‘Frack-Out’ In Greene County Have A Little Happier Holiday Thanks To Water Donated By Center For Coalfield Justice [PaEN -12.20.22]
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - August 23 to 29 - Township Declares Disaster Emergency Over Polluted Water Wells; 70 More Abandoned Conventional Well Violations [PaEN]
-- DEP: Griffin Summit Oil Co. Violated Order To Plug Or Bring 53 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Into Compliance In Venango County; 437 Abandoned Conventional Well NOVs In 2025 [PaEN]
-- DEP Closes Violations For Failing To Restore Shale Gas Water Impoundment For 7 Years In Clarion County After Owner Reports Using It To Frack A Well; On July 31 [PaEN]
-- DEP To Hold Sept. 9 Virtual Update On Energy Transfer/Sunoco Pipeline Rupture In Upper Wakefield Twp., Bucks County [PaEN]
-- DEP Plugs 2 Conventional Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners And Venting Gas In Erie County [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - August 30 [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments Stormwater Permit For The Hyperion Midstream 2 Mile Long Titan To Athena Loop Natural Gas Pipeline Project In Westmoreland County [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 66 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In August 30 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
-- DEP To Hold Oct. 1 Hearing On Title V Air Quality Permit For Vitro Meadville Flat Glass In Crawford County [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Freeport Township Declares Disaster Emergency After Residents Impacted By A Gas Related Water Contamination Event Have Been Without Permanent Water Supplies For 3 Years-- We’re Not Blaming Anybody, We Just Want Good, Clean Drinking Water [PaEN]
-- Inside Climate News: Pennsylvania Towns Push Back To Stop Proposed LNG Gas Export Terminals, As President Pushes LNG Exports
-- Environmental Quality Board Meets Sept. 9 To Consider 2 Petitions From Oil & Gas Industry; Air Quality; Laboratory; Drinking Water; Water Quality; Radiation Protection Regulations [PaEN]
-- Independent Fiscal Office: Residential Electricity Bills ‘Begin Surge:’ Natural Gas Prices Up 71%, PJM Prices Up Due To A.I. Data Center Demand [PaEN]
-- US DOE Orders Eddystone Generating Station To Remain In Operation For 90 More Days In Delaware County [PaEN]
-- In Case You Missed It -- A.I./Data Center Articles & NewClips From Last Week - August 31 [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Williamsport Sun: DEP Assesses Eureka Resources Oil & Gas Wastewater Spill In Williamsport, Orders Company To Take Corrective Measures [PDF of Article]
-- The Center Square: Republican Rep. Ortitay Wants To Expand Natural Gas Drilling On State Land, Raise Other Revenue To Replace School Property Taxes
-- YourErie.com: DEP Plugs Conventional Gas Wells Abandoned By Their Owners And Venting Gas In Erie Residential Area
-- Utility Dive: EIA Projects Record Residential, Commercial Natural Gas Consumption To Offset Decreases In Power Generation [Underappreciated Risks To Gas Use By A.I. Data Center Customers]
[Posted: August 28, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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