Cabot Oil & Gas Backs Off on Demand That Dimock Homeowner be Jailed

The Associated Press reports Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. is no longer calling on the immediate jailing of a Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania man after he agreed to talk to Cabot lawyers next month.

Dimock resident Ray Kemble has been a long-time critic of Cabot, one of the nation's most prolific producers of natural gas in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale Gas Play.

Cabot has sued Kemble and his former lawyers for $5 million in a suit claiming they tried to extort the company trough frivolous federal lawsuits and for violating settlement reached in 2012 by speaking ill of the company.

Kemble appeared in court in Montrose February 4, standing through his appearance since he said recent cancer surgery kept him from sitting for extended periods of time.

Cabot called for Kemble to be arrested for failing to appear at a deposition but now has agreed to have the deposition rescheduled for March.

Kemble, other residents and environmentalists have blamed Cabot for polluting residential water and other negative impacts with Pennsylvania inspectors citing the company 500 times for environmental health and safety issues.

Cabot contends the fracking opponents and Kemble are paid protestors funded by rich environmental groups like Food & Water Watch.

The company has about 770 active shale gas wells in Pennsylvania according to the AP report.