Mitchell Energy & Development agreed to settle the lastremaining 25 North Texas groundwater lawsuits brought against acompany subsidiary. Plaintiffs alleged in the suits that Mitchell’soil and gas operations in Wise County, TX, affected theirgroundwater.

“These cases were all that remained untried after judgments wereentered in favor of the company in five similar cases, includingthe ‘Bartlett’ and ‘Bailey’ cases, which involved more than twodozen additional plaintiff groups,” said Thomas P. Battle,Mitchell’s general counsel. “These earlier rulings-and the factthat we had motions pending to dismiss a number of these remainingcases-clearly helped us reach this settlement with the plaintiffs.”

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the company saidit will have no adverse effect on earnings, as the company hadpreviously accrued costs for the litigation. “Defending these caseshas been both costly and distracting,” said George P. Mitchell,CEO. “We have steadfastly maintained and defended our position thatthe company’s operations were not the cause of the water qualityproblems in the plaintiffs’ wells, and we’re glad to be able tofinally conclude this unfounded litigation once and for all.”

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