Pa., W.Va. fracking-test workers getting back pay

CRANBERRY, Pa. (AP) — Sixty-nine Pennsylvania and West Virginia workers for a company that tests water samples at natural gas and oil drilling sites are getting more than $187,000 in back pay after wrongly being denied overtime.

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the action by Groundwater and Environmental Services Inc. of Exton, Pa. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The department says the issue was discovered as part of an enforcement effort that focuses on the growing number of vendors who perform services related to the hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — process used on Marcellus Shale wells.

The department says GES workers based in Cranberry, Pa., and Fairmont, W.Va., were wrongly denied overtime when the company claimed they were exempt because of their specialized training.