Spiros Law, P.C., filed a lawsuit June 13 in Champaign County Circuit Court against The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company (Peoples Gas) on behalf of families affected by a gas leak from Manlove Field, an underground natural gas storage facility operated by Peoples Gas in rural Mahomet. 
 
The lawsuit is brought on behalf of 17 people who reside in six homes serviced by five private water wells. The complaint outlines 52 counts against Peoples Gas and one of its top employees, Thomas Davis, that include negligence, private nuisance, trespass, breach of contract, consumer fraud, and battery. The plaintiffs are seeking an award of damages for health exposures, property damage, financial loss for decreased property value, loss of use and enjoyment of their property, loss of quality of life, emotional distress, and punitive damages. The complaint also requests a court-ordered injunction prohibiting Peoples Gas from injecting any more natural gas into the ground below the Mahomet Aquifer.

 
Manlove Field stores natural gas in sedimentary rocks in the deep aquifer underlying approximately 27,500 acres of mostly residential and farmland property. The leak occurred from one of the 153 gas wells at Manlove Field, known as the L. McCord No. 2 well, located on Route 47, just south of County Road 2800 North in rural Mahomet. According to the lawsuit, data collected by the Illinois State Water Survey indicates that there was a blow-out on Oct. 28, 2015, that changed the water levels of the aquifer system by up to 50 feet in some locations. However, Peoples Gas has contended that it did not know about the leak until one of its employees discovered gas bubbling in a puddle of water over a year later on Dec. 6, 2016.
 
The complaint alleges Peoples Gas made numerous misrepresentations to both the plaintiffs and government regulators to hide the widespread contamination of the Mahomet Aquifer it caused. 
 
The complaint also brings a count of battery against Peoples Gas and one of its top employees, Thomas Davis, alleging that he received a written laboratory report confirming Peoples Gas had contaminated the drinking water at one of the homes on March 29, 2017, but waited almost a full month before calling and informing them. During this period, the people living at that home were unknowingly drinking contaminated water and using it for all their household needs. On the same day Peoples Gas finally told that homeowner that it had contaminated his water, he called and informed the Illinois Department of Public Health. This was the first time any government agency was informed that the leak from Peoples Gas’ facility had contaminated the Mahomet Aquifer or residential water wells.