Federal judge throws out jury award for Dimock families who claimed shale gas contamination

A federal judge on Friday threw out a jury’s award of $4.24 million for two Dimock, Pa., families who claimed their water was contaminated by a Marcellus Shale gas driller and ordered a new trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson set aside the verdict by an eight-member jury that sat in Scranton, saying the evidence “was spare, sometimes contradictory, frequently rebutted by other scientific expert testimony, and relied in some measure upon tenuous inferences.”

The jury had found that Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.'s drilling was negligent and created a nuisance for the families of Scott Ely and Monica Marta-Ely and Ray and Victoria Hubert. It awarded the Elys $2.75 million and the Huberts $1.49 million.

Cabot maintained that its drilling was not responsible for the elevated level of methane in the families' water wells, and asked Judge Carlson to reverse the judgment and rule in its favor. Rather, Judge Carlson ordered a new trial if Cabot and the families were unable to successfully negotiate a settlement.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2017/04/01/Federal-judge-throws-out-jury-award-for-Dimock-families-who-claimed-shale-gas-contamination/stories/201704010082