{"id":1416,"date":"2014-04-30T10:47:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T15:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=1416"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:32:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:32:40","slug":"texas-jury-awards-3-million-to-landowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2014\/04\/30\/texas-jury-awards-3-million-to-landowners\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Jury Awards $3 Million to Landowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent Texas jury verdict has received national attention.\u00a0 Last week, a 6-person Dallas County jury awarded $2.9 million to landowners who claim injuries from drilling and production of natural\u00a0gas in the Barnett Shale.\u00a0 The case, Parr v. Aruba Petroleum<\/em>, is reported to be the first verdict of its kind in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"2013083095105050\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The plaintiffs owned 40 acres of land\u00a0near Decatur, Texas.\u00a0 Aruba Petroleum, an oil and gas production company, drilled 22 wells within two miles of the plaintiffs’ property.\u00a0 Plaintiffs claim that the production caused a host of problems including injury to property, livestock, and the plaintiff’s physical wellbeing.\u00a0 [Review Complaint<\/a> here.]\u00a0 Specifically, Plaintiffs complained of toxic chemicals in the air due to the production.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Plaintiffs’ filed suit against\u00a0several oil and gas companies\u00a0claiming nuisance, negligence, and trespass.\u00a0 (These other defendants were dropped from the suit or settled prior to trial.)\u00a0 Aruba denied plaintiffs’ claims and argued that it had complied with all guidelines set by the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in producing oil and gas from the properties.<\/p>\n

After a\u00a0two and a half\u00a0week trial, the Dallas County Jury\u00a0found, 5-1, that\u00a0a nuisance did exist and\u00a0awarded extensive damages to the plaintiffs in the amount of $2.95 million.\u00a0 According to plaintiffs’ attorney, David Matthews, the verdict included $275,000 for past physical pain and suffering, $250,000 for future pain and suffering, and $400,000 for past mental anguish.\u00a0 Plaintiff Lisa Parr was quoted as saying that she was “very pleased with the verdict” and that “justice was served not only for us, but for every family in the world who has suffered from health effects and the negligence from this type of industry.”<\/p>\n

Aruba Petroleum plans to appeal the decision and issued the following statement:\u00a0 We contended the plaintiffs were neither harmed by the presence of our drilling operations nor was the value of their property diminished because of our natural gas development.\u00a0 We presented thorough and expert testimony from recognized toxicologists and medical professionals, as well as local real estate professionals, to help the jury make an informed decision.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they returned a verdict that we believe is counter to the evidence presented.”<\/em><\/p>\n

To read news articles covering this story, click here<\/a> and here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent Texas jury verdict has received national attention.\u00a0 Last week, a 6-person Dallas County jury awarded $2.9 million to landowners who claim injuries from drilling and production of natural\u00a0gas in the Barnett Shale.\u00a0 The case, Parr v. Aruba Petroleum, is reported to be the first verdict of its kind in the United States. The plaintiffs owned 40 acres of land\u00a0near Decatur, Texas.\u00a0 Aruba Petroleum, an oil and gas production company, drilled 22 wells within two miles of the plaintiffs’ property.\u00a0 Plaintiffs claim that the production caused a… Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2444,"featured_media":1348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oil-and-gas-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Jury Awards $3 Million to Landowners - Texas Agriculture Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2014\/04\/30\/texas-jury-awards-3-million-to-landowners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Jury Awards $3 Million to Landowners - Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent Texas jury verdict has received national attention.\u00a0 Last week, a 6-person Dallas County jury awarded $2.9 million to landowners who claim injuries from drilling and production of natural\u00a0gas in the Barnett Shale.\u00a0 The case, Parr v. Aruba Petroleum, is reported to be the first verdict of its kind in the United States. The plaintiffs owned 40 acres of land\u00a0near Decatur, Texas.\u00a0 Aruba Petroleum, an oil and gas production company, drilled 22 wells within two miles of the plaintiffs’ property.\u00a0 Plaintiffs claim that the production caused a... 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