Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas wants a federal judge in Pennsylvania to throw out a $4.24 million jury verdict that the company’s fracking operations contaminated well water for two families in the state. The verdict came down in early March and the oil and gas company filed its request last week, asking Chief Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson to either enter a judgment in favor of the company, order a new trial or reduce damages to a maximum of $85,500.
At the time of the verdict, a company spokesman was surprised at the conclusion drawn by the six jurors in federal court in Scranton. The jurors awarded $1.3 million each to Scott Ely and Monica Marta-Ely of Dimock. Each of their three children received an award of $50,000. A second couple from Dimock, Ray and Victoria Hubert each received $720,000 and their daughter was awarded $50,000.
“They are an arrogant company that bullies their way to what they want,” said Scott Ely after the trial. “If they had just done the right thing, it would have been so much easier for them.”
Cabot maintained there was no evidence linking contamination of the two wells to the fracking operations.
Forty families filed suit against Cabot and the Ely and Hubert families were the last who contended fracking had contaminated their wells with methane gas. The rest of the families reached a settlement with the company in 2012.
