Court Allows Gas Well Operator to Test Employee’s Clothing for Alleged Fracking Toxins

WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal court has ordered a plaintiff claiming injury from exposure to hydraulic “fracking” chemicals used in shale gas drilling to produce his allegedly contaminated work clothes to the well operator for chemical analysis.

Magistrate Judge James E. Seibert of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued the order Nov. 28 after an evidentiary hearing on defendants’ motion to compel.

Last month, District Judge John P. Bailey granted the parties' joint motion to extend discovery from Nov. 2 to Nov. 16, but left a Jan. 8 trial date unchanged. Judge Bailey …