Stroud v. Southwestern Energy, No. 15-3458 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiffs filed suit alleging that SWE's fracking waste migrated onto their property. The district court granted summary judgment for SWE. The Eighth Circuit held that the district court properly imposed initial limits on discovery; the district court abused its discretion in excluding plaintiff's expert report because, although the expert's equation and report imperfectly described where the fracking waste spread, the methodology was scientifically valid, could properly be applied to the facts of this case, and thus was reliable to assist the trier of fact; and, even without the expert's opinion, plaintiffs presented evidence that could support a reasonable inference that the fracking waste migrated across their property line. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Benton, Author, with Wollman and Smith, Circuit Judges] Civil Case - diversity. District court did not abuse its discretion in limiting scope of discovery during Phase 1 discovery, but excluding expert opinion regarding the likely spread of waste water flow beneath the Strouds' property was an abuse of discretion, as the methodology, though not perfect, was scientifically reliable enough to assist the trier of fact. The grant of summary judgment to Southwestern Energy Company is reversed, as the evidence, even without the excluded expert opinion, created a genuine issue of material facts, as evidence was presented that could support a reasonable inference that the fracking waste migrated across their property line considering 7.6 million barrels of waste poured into an area capable of holding no more than 1.1 million barrels.
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