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Holmdel, NJ Loses Years-Long Fight to Block NJNG Gas Regulator Stn

In December 2022, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved permission for New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) to build a pipeline regulator station in Holmdel, New Jersey. What does a regulator station do? It reduces pressure on the existing underground natural gas pipelines in the area, which run underneath Holmdel Township and throughout Monmouth County. Ultimately, a regulator station will ensure the reliability of the pipelines and the gas that flows in the area. The new station will replace a currently operating temporary regulator station. Yet the “leaders” of Holmdel voted in 2023 to appeal the BPU decision to court, allocating up to $20,000 of taxpayer money for legal fees, which turned out to be a fruitless attempt at overturning the BPU decision (see Antis Oppose Simple & Safe Gas Regulator Station in Holmdel, NJ). They lost the appeal and their money. Read More “Holmdel, NJ Loses Years-Long Fight to Block NJNG Gas Regulator Stn”

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Fed Courts Support Municipalities’ Right to Strip Away Energy Choice

Local municipalities with radical political leaders, along with some “blue” states run by radical Democrats, have attempted to strip away the right of their citizens to freely choose which energy source they want to use. It’s about as anti-American as it gets, against the very founding of this country. Yet it happens. Berkeley, California’s “first-in-the-nation” natural gas ban was later overturned by a federal appeals court. Yet recently, two other appeals court cases have ruled in favor of gas-banning municipalities and states. Let’s consider the “shifting landscape” of local and state gas bans… Read More “Fed Courts Support Municipalities’ Right to Strip Away Energy Choice”

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6th Circuit Reverses Lower Court, Blocks EOG from Surface Drilling

This is news of a lawsuit with implications for drillers, rights owners, and surface land owners that we were not previously aware of. EOG Resources, an oil and gas drilling giant with nearly half a million leased acres in Ohio, holds drilling rights on land owned by Lucky Land Management in Ohio—we could not determine the exact location or county. The two sides couldn’t agree on whether EOG’s rights to drill included the right to drill from Lucky Land’s surface out to adjacent properties as well. So EOG sued. EOG then asked a district court to grant a preliminary injunction, allowing the company to access the land to cut down trees and begin constructing wells. The district court did so, finding that EOG would probably succeed on the merits of the case. Read More “6th Circuit Reverses Lower Court, Blocks EOG from Surface Drilling”

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WV Supremes Hear Oral Arguments in 2 Important O&G Royalty Cases

The West Virginia Supreme Court was scheduled to hear two significant oil and gas royalty disputes during a morning session today. Both cases center on whether natural gas companies can deduct post-production costs from royalty payments and, if so, under what circumstances. The stakes are incredibly high for both landowners and drillers. The first case, Kaess v. BB Land LLC, we had not previously heard about. The second case, Romeo v. Antero Resources Corporation, we have heard about. We first reported on that case back in 2017 (see OH, WV Landowners Sue Antero re Post-Production Royalty Deductions). Read More “WV Supremes Hear Oral Arguments in 2 Important O&G Royalty Cases”

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OH Supreme Court Case Allows Surface Owners to Keep Mineral Rights

Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a ruling dismissing a case that leaves in place a ruling from the Seventh District Court of Appeals. The case, Darrell Crozier et al. v. Pipe Creek Conservancy LLC et al., involves a decision on who owns the oil and gas rights underlying a property in rural Belmont County. The case revolves around the Ohio Marketable Title Act (MTA), something we’ve written about multiple times (see our MTA stories here). The issue of who owns the mineral rights is vitally important for surface owners, rights owners, and drillers. The MTA provides a way for surface owners to reclaim subsurface rights that had been severed under certain conditions. That’s what this case was about. Read More “OH Supreme Court Case Allows Surface Owners to Keep Mineral Rights”

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Pa. Court Orders October Trial Date for Coterra v. Dimock Anti

Ray Kemble and his lawyers are in for a tough court fight. The Susquehanna County (PA) Court of Common Pleas has set a date of October 6, 2025, to hear a “Dimock” case between Kemble (and his lawyers) and Coterra Energy (originally Cabot Oil & Gas), in a case that stretches back to 2017. In a damning decision against Kemble’s lawyers in 2023, the judge found they repeatedly refused to provide documents in the case even though ordered to by the judge (see Coterra Energy Wins Court Victory Against Dimock Anti’s Lawyers). Not only that, but the lawyers destroyed evidence! They destroyed computers with emails and documents and even destroyed hard-copy documents to avoid handing them over to the court. The trial that begins in October will determine how much the plaintiff (Coterra Energy) will receive after being wronged by these fractivist lawyers. Get ready to pay up. Read More “Pa. Court Orders October Trial Date for Coterra v. Dimock Anti”

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Fed Court Dismisses WV Landowner Lawsuit Against EQT re Surface Use

Here’s a lawsuit that was not previously on our radar. A West Virginia couple, Bart Mickey and Jami Mickey, sued EQT alleging the company concealed a 2020 Surface Access and Use Agreement allowing EQT to remove a pond, diminishing the value of a property the Mickey’s purchased in Marshall County for $350,000. The Mickeys said in their lawsuit that EQT signed a deal with the previous owners of the property, allowing EQT to remove a pond for $10,000 (an action required under a 2015 Consent Decree with the EPA and WVDEP). Then, EQT (according to the Mickeys) delayed recording the easement with the county. When buying the property, the Mickeys said the easement/deal did not appear in a title search. Read More “Fed Court Dismisses WV Landowner Lawsuit Against EQT re Surface Use”

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Correction: Injection Well in McKean County Did NOT Fail Tests

We have an important update to share. On Feb. 19, MDN published a post about a Catalyst Energy wastewater injection well in Keating Township, McKean County, PA (see Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County Fails 2 Integrity Tests). That post used news from a local newspaper that made what is now known as a false claim that the Catalyst well had “failed DEP mechanical integrity tests twice.” That statement was 100% untrue. MDN doesn’t get things wrong often, but this time, we did, and we are publishing this follow-up post to correct the record. Our sincere apologies to Catalyst. Read More “Correction: Injection Well in McKean County Did NOT Fail Tests”

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6th Circuit Upholds OH Landowner Claims Against Antero re Deductions

An important decision was recently issued in a federal court case (in Ohio) that potentially affects landowners and drillers with shale leases throughout the Marcellus/Utica. At least, we believe it has broader implications. The case, The Grissoms, LLC v. Antero Resources Corporation, was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Circuit) on April 2, 2025. The case involves a dispute between a certified class of 370 Ohio landowners and Antero. The landowners alleged that Antero underpaid them $10 million in natural gas royalties by improperly deducting certain processing and fractionation costs from their royalty payments, violating their lease agreements. In 2023, the landowners won against Antero in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (see OH Fed Court Ruling Further Clarifies Post-Production Deductions). Antero appealed the case to the 6th Circuit. Now, the 6th Circuit has also ruled in favor of the landowners. Read More “6th Circuit Upholds OH Landowner Claims Against Antero re Deductions”

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Driller Wins Briggs v SWN Rule of Capture/Trespass Resurrected Case

In January 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in THE most consequential lawsuit for Marcellus Shale drilling we’ve seen, a case called Briggs v Southwestern Energy (see HUGE NEWS: PA Supreme Court Keeps ‘Rule of Capture’ for Fracking). The PA Supreme Court ruled in favor of Southwestern, retaining the “rule of capture” in the Keystone State. In 2022, the Briggs family filed a new lawsuit, call it “Briggs 2,” along the same lines, alleging that Southwestern’s drilling and fracking on a neighboring property had intruded (“trespassed”) under the property line, draining gas from the Briggs property and injecting PFAS “forever chemicals” under their land (see Briggs v SWN Rule of Capture/Trespass Court Case Resurrected). The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently ruled in favor of Southwestern (now Expand Energy) and against the landowner’s claims. Read More “Driller Wins Briggs v SWN Rule of Capture/Trespass Resurrected Case”

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EHB Denies EQT Motion to Exclude Medical Evidence in PFAS Case

A Washington County, PA, man and his anti-fossil fuel lawyer won a victory with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court in PA set up to hear appeals of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decisions. The man, Bryan Latkanich, alleges Chevron used PFAS “forever chemicals” in fracking fluids in 2011-2012 when Chevron drilled two wells some 500 feet from his home. Latkanich claims his water well was damaged, as well as his health and the health of family members who drank the “contaminated” water. EQT now owns the wells. Read More “EHB Denies EQT Motion to Exclude Medical Evidence in PFAS Case”

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EQT, Diversified Lose Court Case re Value of Assets in Va. County

MDN exclusively brought you the news, in June 2018, that Diversified Gas & Oil (now renamed to Diversified Energy) had purchased EQT’s Huron Shale assets in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia for $575 million (see Diversified Gas & Oil Adds to Conventional Assets in KY, VA, WV). The deal included nearly 12,000 wells with 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas production. It also included 2.5 million acres of leases and some 6,400 miles of gathering pipelines. Of the assets involved in the sale, 578 gas wells, 187.7 miles of pipes, and 14 compressors were located in Wise County, Virginia. The Wise County assets and how they were/are valued for tax purposes are the focus of this post. Read More “EQT, Diversified Lose Court Case re Value of Assets in Va. County”

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U.S. Supreme Court Kills Fossil Fuel Lawsuit by Oregon Kids

On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a group of kids pushing for federal action on climate change since filing their lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, in 2015. Represented by Our Children’s Trust, the 21 youths argued that the government’s energy policies violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and security by exacerbating climate change. The case faced repeated setbacks in federal courts, with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue, leading to a lower court’s dismissal of the case. The Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the appeal centered on this procedural issue of standing, effectively ending the long-running litigation. The nonprofit behind the suit had asked the Court to delay its decision pending another case on standing, but the justices proceeded, closing a significant chapter in youth-led climate activism. Read More “U.S. Supreme Court Kills Fossil Fuel Lawsuit by Oregon Kids”

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MVP Case Against Radicalized Protesters Advances in Federal Court

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke Division) ruled in two of five cases before it in which Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which is now majority-owned by EQT Corporation, sued radical protesters who blocked the construction of the pipeline in Roanoke County, Virginia. The court dismissed one count in the two cases (count #4) against the protesters, which the media focused on. The media doesn’t want to talk about the fact that there are five other counts, far more serious than the dismissed count, that the court is allowing to advance. These protesters are in a world of legal hurt over their illegal blocking of MVP construction. Read More “MVP Case Against Radicalized Protesters Advances in Federal Court”

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WV Supremes Rule Lower Court Erred in New Trial re Injection Well

Here’s an interesting lawsuit that never appeared on our radar. It involves a lease in Fayette County, West Virginia, and the right to establish an injection well in an old conventional well on the leased property. The party leasing and using the old injection well, Webb Construction, was later sued by the party leasing out the property, North Hills Group, after new board members over at North Hills. The lawsuit accused Webb of improperly using the old well as an injection well without first trying to see if the well could be rejuvenated as a productive gas well and building a pipeline to the well that leaked wastewater on North Hill’s property. A Fayette Circuit Court jury in 2022 found in favor of Webb and against North Hills, dismissing all claims against Webb. North Hills asked the judge to grant a new trial to overturn the jury verdict, which the judge did. North Hills won in the new trial. Read More “WV Supremes Rule Lower Court Erred in New Trial re Injection Well”

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Bucks County, PA, Judge Skeptical of “Sneaky” Climate Lawsuit

In March 2024, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see Bucks County, PA, Sues Big Oil for Causing “Climate Change”). The lawsuit seemingly came out of nowhere. Green groups hatched it secretly, including the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) – a Rockefeller-funded D.C. activist group. There were no public meetings. No public input. No public announcements. It was completely hush-hush, with a total media blackout until the lawsuit was filed (see Bucks County, PA Lawsuit Against Big Oil Violated Transparency Law). A year later, a Bucks County Court judge held the first hearing to consider dismissing this fraud. The judge seemed inclined to do just that, calling the lawsuit filed by the county “sneaky.” Read More “Bucks County, PA, Judge Skeptical of “Sneaky” Climate Lawsuit”