A federal judge has decided against nine New York homeowners who claimed their drinking water was contaminated by a natural gas well.

Western District Judge Charles Siragusa (See Profile) ruled from Rochester in Baker v. Anschutz Exploration, 11-cv-6119, that homeowners failed to prove the silt and methane that befouled their water was caused by one of two gas wells drilled a half mile from their homes in Chemung County in 2010.