January 10, 2011

PA Decision on Hydraulic Fracturing and Strict Liability

Alex Basilevsky offers this update in his Water Law blog: "[F]oes of hydraulic fracturing have won a minor victory in a recent federal court decision coming out of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In Fiorentino v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., No. 09-cv-2284 (M.D. Pa., Nov. 15, 2010), Judge John Jones refused to dismiss a suit against Cabot arising out of allegations that Cabot's hydraulic fracturing operations contaminated the plaintiffs’ property and water with methane, natural gas, and other toxins. The decision is significant because one of the questions before the court was whether a claim of strict liability can be brought against a hydraulic fracturing operation."