By Jason Weinstein.

A federal jury Thursday has awarded two couples nearly $4.25 million after finding one of the largest natural gas drillers in Pennsylvania polluted their well water.


The lawsuit pitted homeowners in the village of Dimock, the Ely and Hubert families, against Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas. Thursday the jury awarded $2.75 million to the Ely family and almost $1.5 million to the Hubert family. State regulators blamed faulty gas wells drilled by Cabot for leaking methane into Dimock's groundwater.


Cabot claimed the methane was naturally occurring. The rural community became a national battleground in environmental activists' fight against fracking.


Cabot Oil released this statement on the verdict:


"Cabot is surprised at the jury's verdict given the lack of evidence provided by plaintiffs in support of their nuisance claim. The verdict disregards overwhelming scientific and factual evidence that Cabot acted as a prudent operator in conducting its operations. Cabot will be filing motions with the Court to set the verdict aside based upon lack of evidence as well as conduct of plaintiff's counsel calculated to deprive Cabot of a fair trial."


*Material from the Associated Press was used in this report*