Trial continues in civil suit against natural gas company
A Fayette County judge agreed to dismiss part of the case brought against a natural gas drilling company by a Florida widow on Wednesday after the gas company’s counsel brought the court’s attention to a rule of law that prohibits testimony about the breach of a lease agreement.
Jurors were dismissed as attorneys for Atlas Energy and Nona Chubboy, a real estate agent from Tierra Verde, argued whether it was permissible to discuss any lease agreements prior to an amended lease signed in March 2004.
Chubboy testified she originally signed a lease in August 2003 authorizing Atlas to construct natural gas wells on property she owned in Franklin Township, in exchange for a portion of the royalties from the gas and with the understanding that an access road Atlas planned to build would be located in accordance with verbal agreement she made with the company’s land manager at the time, James Jordan.
In January 2004, Chubboy contends Jordan sent her a map with a line indicating the location of the mutually agreed upon road, and at the time she said she believed road construction was under way according to the plan. Months later, she said she learned the road went through an entirely different part of the property, and she had reason to believe workers contracted by Atlas to remove trees were selling them.
Brad Tupi, an attorney representing Atlas, asked President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. to dismiss Chubboy’s breach of contract claim because he said she re-signed the lease in March 2004 without making changes in the wording regarding where the road was to be built specifically. Chubboy had taken the property out of a trust and transferred it into her own name, necessitating a change in the lease and requiring her signature, but she testified she had no reason at that time to change the lease to specify the location of the road because she had faith based on conversations with Jordan that the roadwork was being done accroding on the verbal agreement.
Citing Pennsylvania evidentiary rules, Tupi argued that it would be impermissible to allow evidence regarding any written or verbal lease agreement prior to the March 2004 update.
“So, if she didn’t get it in a written agreement, shame on her?” Wagner asked.
Tupi nodded.
Chubboy’s suit also claims Atlas removed topsoil, sandstone and timber from her property without compensating her for it or replacing it.
Jurors heard from Atlas construction manager Tim Berdar, who testified for the defense and explained the process by which drill sites are constructed. He said Atlas typically clears trees from the area, builds the well pads by removing topsoil and subsoil to create a flat pad and roads to access it, conducts drilling and then reclaims the site.
Berdar testified he did not witness any of those materials being removed, rather, the company purchased some of the materials necessary to construct a road to the well pad, and some of the materials excavated from Chubboy’s property were used to build the road.
“We took the least amount we had to take to do what we had to do,” Berdar testified.
On cross-examination, Chubboy’s attorney, Mark Mehalov, questioned the timing of the construction of the roads and the excavation of a quarry on-site, citing a May 2004 letter from Atlas that indicated sandstone had been removed from Chubboy’s property to be used in the construction of a road on a neighboring property. Chubboy contends that based on documents from Atlas, site visits and visual documentation, the stone and topsoil were quarried and removed after the road on her property was built.
Both Berdar and former vice president of Atlas’ land division, Michael Hartsell, testified that Atlas does not remove soil or trees from properties, but Hartsell also testified he was never at the Chubboy site and couldn’t be certain those materials were not taken off her property.
The trial will continue before Wagner at 9 a.m. today.