Judge Charles Siragusa
Anschutz, and codefendant oil and gas firms, engaged in drilling near Anschutz's Dow 1 and Dow 2 wells. Both wells are close to homes owned by Baker and his co-plaintiffs, who rely on well water for drinking, cooking and bathing. They claimed their water was contaminated by combustible gases, toxic sediments and hazardous chemicals resulting from defendants improper or inadequate capping of the Dow 1 and 2 wells in 2010. Their complaint asserted, among other causes of action, negligence per se violating New York's Navigation Law and Article 23 of the Environmental Conservation Act, trespass, strict liability under Navigation Law Article 12. In addition to denying other motions as moot, the court denied defendants' motion to strike plaintiffs' expert reports for failure to comply with the court's Lone Pine order requiring plaintiffs to identify and quantify contamination on their property, and to produce to defendants the expert reports, studies and analyses underlying plaintiffs' contamination claims. The court found that although "far from models of clarity" reports from plaintiffs' experts Rubin and Gartenberg—a hydrogeologist and hydrologist, and professional engineer, respectively—met the Lone Pine order's essential requirements.