Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. said it will appeal a federal court award of $4.24 million to two families who said hydraulic fracturing of two wells by the company in Dimock Township, Pa., contaminated their well water.
Cabot had argued methane in the water came from sources other than its natural gas wells.
A Cabot statement said the verdict overlooked “overwhelming scientific and factual evidence that Cabot acted as a prudent operator in conducting its operations.”
In August 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection allowed Cabot to resume work on seven wells around Dimock after the producer showed its work complied with state laws and didn’t threaten water wells (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2012).
The work had been suspended while the US Environmental Protection Agency responded to homeowner complaints about methane in water, eventually finding no contamination related to fracturing of gas wells that required it to act (OGJ Online, July 25, 2012).