Pa. Federal Judge Dismisses Claimant's Bid for Share of Environmental Settlement

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A woman claiming to be a co-owner of a property that was subject to a settlement between state environmental officials and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. never intervened in a related lawsuit and had no standing to seek a share of settlement funds, a federal judge has ruled. Fiorentino v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., et al., No. 09-cv-2284 (M.D. Pa.).

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said that even absent the procedural issues preventing Lorna Schopperth's motion from being considered, the court would be disinclined to distribute escrowed funds in a piecemeal fashion while other …