Texas Family Awarded Nearly $3 Million in Fracking Lawsuit

A jury awarded a north Texas ranching family nearly $3 million from Aruba Petroleum when it became clear the company's nearby fracking and drilling was responsible for their severe health problems.

Robert and Lisa Parr filed suit against Aruba Petroleum Inc. in 2011, claiming that their operations caused years of sickness, killed pets and livestock, and forced them out of their home for months. The first-of-its-kind case ended Tuesday with the court awarding the family $2.95 million.

The Plano, Texas-based company contended that it had done nothing wrong, and that "natural gas development has long been prevalent in Wise County."

"We contended the plaintiffs were neither harmed by the presence of our drilling operations nor was the value of their property diminished because of our natural gas development," Aruba said in a statement, according to CNN.

Lisa Parr, 45, experienced migraine headaches nausea and dizziness, and a host of other severe problems.

"My central nervous system was messed up," Parr told CNN. "I couldn't hear, and my vision was messed up. My entire body would shake inside. I was vomiting white foam in the mornings."

Her and her family's symptoms progressively worsened, until she realized the fracking was to blame, and called the Commission on Environmental Quality.

"My doctor told me, and I quote, 'You'll spend more time and money on hospitals, chemotherapy and morticians if you remain in your home,'" Lisa Parr said in court, according to NGI's Shale Daily.

Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is the process by which drillers pump large amounts of water mixed with sand and chemicals into a shale or rock formation. The process breaks the shale around the well - some which are deeper than 8,000 feet - allowing the natural gas in the shale to flow freely.

More than 15 million people live within one mile of a fracked well, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis from last year.

The Parr family originally sought $9 million in damages and alleged that 22 wells operated by Aruba within two miles of their land exposed them to toxic chemicals and industrial waste.

Environmentalists applauded the jury's decision.

"It's a game-changing verdict that may have repercussions throughout the United States," Gary Wocker, an environmental advocate in Colorado who is against fracking told the Los Angeles Times.