Judge throws out ‘Gasland’ fracking verdict

A federal judge has thrown out a $4.24 million jury verdict against one of the largest natural gas producers in Pennsylvania and ordered a new trial in a lawsuit alleging Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. contaminated the well water of two families.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Carlson on Friday set aside the verdict reached a year ago by a jury in Scranton, saying the evidence presented by the Dimock homeowners “was spare, sometimes contradictory, frequently rebutted by other scientific expert testimony, and relied in some measure upon tenuous inferences.”

Carlson also said the plaintiffs presented no evidence that would justify a multimillion-dollar award.

The judge, however, declined to decide the case in favor of the company and, instead, ordered a new trial.

He said that before any trial, the parties should have settlement discussions with the aid of another judge.

Dimock’s fight against fracking, a method used by drilling companies to extract oil and gas from underground rock, was featured in the Emmywinning 2010 documentary “Gasland.”