Judge reverses ruling for two PA families in water contamination case.
SCRANTON, Pa. (WNEP) — Two families from Dimock, Pennsylvania will not receive the $4.24 million a jury awarded them last year over water contamination.
On Friday, a jury’s verdict from last year, that ordered Cabot Oil and Gas to pay the families, was overturned.
The Ely and Hubert families from Susquehanna County took Cabot Oil and Gas to court, claiming its drilling near their homes ruined their water.
A federal judge said irregularities were present in testimony during the trial that he called "troubling."
He also said there were missteps by attorneys in the jury’s presence, saying that $4.2 million in damages wasn’t a justified amount for the Cabot to pay.
"The judge appears to have ignored our expert testimony.
It is not clear to me why the court required an entire year to essentially rubber-stamp the companies’ position that they were somehow robbed of a fair trial.
There will be justice for these families."
Cabot issued a statement saying it felt confident that after a review of the scientific evidence and a review of the attorneys’ conduct, the flaws in the verdict would be understood.