Suit filed over stormwater runoff
A Washington Township property owner has filed a lawsuit against EQT Production Co. claiming stormwater runoff from an EQT well site has damaged his property and left a historic house unlivable.
The suit was filed in Allegheny County Court by J&J Realty of Greene No. 1 LLC of 668 Dunn Station Road. The company is managed by Martin Zupancic and owns 129.6 acres on which sits an historic house and several adjacent outbuildings.
According to the complaint, EQT entered into surface use and road right-of-way agreements with J&J Realty in July 2014 to develop its J&J well site and freshwater impoundment.
The company began work in late summer or early fall by widening an existing access road and raising the road’s surface grade several feet with gravel and an asphalt base, the complaint said.
EQT also constructed a new gravel road up a steep grade to provide access to the well site at the top of the hill.
J&J Realty claims that as part of its work, EQT failed to modify the access road’s stormwater management features to accommodate the substantially larger roadway. In addition, culverts along the new segment of access road direct stormwater from the well site and impoundment area onto the property, it said.
Since fall 2014, rainwater run-off increased significantly and is channeled through a drainage system not designed to handle such water volumes, eroding the banks of the access road and leaving large areas of standing water on the property, according to the complaint.
A pond on the property has been flooded leaving its water discolored and filling it was a significant amount of sediment, the complaint said. The pond also overflowed several times, flooding the area around the house including its basement.
“As a result of EQT’s failure to manage stormwater runoff, the property is unlivable in its present state and cannot be enjoyed,” the suit states
J&J Realty seeks more than $375,000 in damages, claiming breach of contract, trespass, negligence and violation of the stormwater management act.
It also seeks a permanent injunction on the company’s use of the access road and well site unless stormwater management features are constructed to protect the property.
An EQT spokeswoman could not be reached Wednesday for comment.