Case attorneys told the Register-Herald Reporter that after a three-week trial, a jury came to the decision after five hours.
Owners of the wells near Cedar Creek, who said the contamination occurred in 2006 and 2007, have already filed a motion to set the judgment aside for 10 days. The group, claiming the jury was influenced, has also requested an evidentiary hearing.
Mechel Bluestone attorney James Brown, which also represents company subsidiary Dynamic Energy, said the jury’s decision was the “only verdict supported by the evidence,” according to the Reporter. He added that he was not aware of any evidence supporting jury influence.
“The key fact was that the water in those people’s wells is not water that came from our mine site. The DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) made that finding themselves,” Brown said, noting that evidence showed high iron and orange before mining began in the area.
Jim Justice, who is currently running for state governor, sold Mechel Bluestone in 2009 to Mechel but then bought the company back in 2015.
