Litigation

Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain
September 12, 2016September 12, 2016

UTOPIA Pipeline Project map – click for larger version

Kinder Morgan’s UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline is a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run 240 miles and will only be built in Ohio–therefore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won’t be involved in permitting the project. In April we asked the question, Why is UTOPIA Pipeline Less “Controversial” than NEXUS in Ohio?. Perhaps that question was premature, because not long after we ran a story that Kinder Morgan was suing holdout landowners using eminent domain to allow the pipeline (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain). The real eye-popper was reading just how much Kinder Morgan was offering for easements to property owners. Of course what a landowner is offered depends on how many feet of land the pipeline will cross. Some landowners were offered up to $63,300 for an easement. In some cases, the offers were “more than 10 times the appraised value of the easement.” It’s certainly in a landowner’s best interest to settle before being forced to settle (for far less) via eminent domain. So how is the process going? The lawyer for one group of landowners says KM’s offers are low, not high. Here’s an update on the legal battles in the Buckeye State over UTOPIA…
Read More “UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest Sues Contractor for Shoddy Work at WV Processing Plant
September 8, 2016September 8, 2016

Over the years, MarkWest Energy, now a part of MPLX, has built a number of natural gas processing plants in Wetzel County, WV, collectively called the Mobley plant. In September 2014 MarkWest signed a contract with paving and construction company J.F. Allen to design and build a retaining wall so MarkWest could then build the Mobley V plant (in Smithfield). MarkWest says, in a lawsuit they’ve filed against J.F. Allen and other subcontractors, that they didn’t do the job right and it resulted in long delays and millions of dollars in extra costs for MarkWest. Which MarkWest is now trying to recover, requesting a jury trial…
Read More “MarkWest Sues Contractor for Shoddy Work at WV Processing Plant”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PIOGA Loses Court Case Challenging PA DEP Standards for Permits
September 2, 2016September 2, 2016

UPDATE: PIOGA sent MDN an exclusive statement about the case. They intend to appeal. Read PIOGA’s statement below…

In 2013 a RINO justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Chief Justice Ron Castille, sold out the Marcellus industry and joined with three Democrats on the state’s high court to overturn a large and important part of the newly minted Act 13 drilling law, in a case known as Robinson v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (see PA Supreme Court Rules Against State/Drillers in Act 13 Case). Part of the Act 13 law was left intact, but part of it, the part that directed local municipalities to craft zoning laws to include certain statewide uniform provisions concerning the location of oil and gas operations, was tossed (see What Does PA Supreme Court Decision on Act 13 Mean?). In June of this year, the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) argued a lawsuit against the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) based on the tossed Act 13 case. PIOGA argued that part of the Act 13 law–the part that granted the DEP sweeping power to consider proposed impacts a well might have on public and natural resources when considering whether or not to issue a permit–was no longer valid. PIOGA said those parts of the law are directly related and intertwined with the part struck down by the Supreme Court. In other words, Act 13 in its original form, as passed, said the DEP could consider impacts on public and natural resources as part of the decisional process for issuing permits, but the Supremes struck down that part of the decisional process because they said it could not be implemented consistent with Act 13’s intent. PIOGA’s lawsuit pointed out that public natural resources were still protected by other laws operators must comply with and that the Supreme Court’s invalidation of Section 3215(c) meant that DEP ould no longer impose conditions in permits related to these other laws. A Commonwealth Court in PA ruled yesterday against PIOGA’s argument (full copy of the ruling embedded below). In essence, the court is picking and choosing which parts of a law that was duly passed it wants to have enforced, and the parts it doesn’t like it willy nilly tosses, which is bass ackwards. DEP must obey the Supreme Court’s rulings just as everyone does, but not for now courtesy of the Commonwealth Court…
Read More “PIOGA Loses Court Case Challenging PA DEP Standards for Permits”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Wastewater

Federal Court Denies CELDF’s Re-Hearing Request in Grant Twp Case
August 26, 2016August 26, 2016

We believe this bit of news is exclusive to MDN–we’ve not seen it anywhere else, yet. In early August MDN reported that the novel legal argument offered by the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in Grant Township (Indiana County), PA claiming to represent a local ecosystem had failed (see CELDF Loses Case to Represent Ecosystem – Turtles Disappointed). The CELDF tried to claim the Little Mahoning Watershed, an ecosystem, is a “person” under the law–an asinine notion. The CELDF had hoodwinked local anti-drillers in Grant who are opposed to a legally-permitted injection well, attempting to block the well from getting built and operated by Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE). Claiming they speak for the ecosystem was the legal shenanigan the CELDF tried to pull–and it didn’t work. The federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their arguments, clearing the way for PGE to build the injection well and continue with a $1 million lawsuit against Grant for causing economic harm to the company. Here is the new and exclusive news: The CELDF, masquerading as the Little Mahoning Watershed (the “ecosystem”), along with CELDF’s sibling organization called East Run Hellbenders Society, immediately petitioned the full Third Circuit (all of the justices) asking for a rehearing–something called a Sur Petition for Rehearing. The CELDF wanted another bite at the apple–a chance to prove to other justices that the Little Mahoning Watershed is a “person” under the law and should be represented by the crazies at the CELDF. The justices of the Third Circuit unanimously and swiftly rejected the petition for rehearing. It’s the end of the road for the CELDF and Grant Township in this case, which means the PGE injection well will now get built, and Grant Township taxpayers will have to pony up $1 million (if PGE wins their lawsuit, as we expect they will)…
Read More “Federal Court Denies CELDF’s Re-Hearing Request in Grant Twp Case”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation | Spectra Energy

Spectra Spits in MA High Court’s Eye – We’ll Still Build Pipeline
August 25, 2016August 25, 2016

Last week MDN reported on the decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court to deny utility companies operating in the state to pass along potential costs of a new natural gas pipeline to electric rate payers–the people who would most benefit from such a pipeline (see MA Supreme Court Ruling Endangers New England Gas Pipelines). Several utilities had entered into long-term agreements with Spectra Energy’s proposed Access Northeast pipeline on the basis of recovering their costs by passing along pipeline costs to ratepayers. We previously took great pains to explain this complex issue, of government-regulated companies and how they make money. We speculated last week that this decision may indeed imperil the building of Spectra’s Access Northeast pipeline. Good news! Spectra is metaphorically spitting in the eye of the MA Supremes. The company says it will move forward with building the pipeline anyway, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision…
Read More “Spectra Spits in MA High Court’s Eye – We’ll Still Build Pipeline”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | SWEPI | Tioga County (PA)

Tioga County, PA Landowners Won’t Let Driller Clean Up
August 19, 2016August 19, 2016

This one has us scratching our heads. Landowners Damon and Kendra Baker, in Tioga County, PA, signed a lease with Shell’s SWEPI in 2006. We’re guessing the signing bonus was peanuts because at that time the Marcellus was still in its infancy in PA. SWEPI constructed a well pad on their property in 2010 but had drilled no wells by the time the lease expired in 2011. The Bakers wanted a healthy re-signing bonus to allow SWEPI to lease their land again. SWEPI’s final offer was $150,000 (not sure for how many acres). The Baker’s, according to SWEPI, wanted half a million dollars. SWEPI said “no thanks” and therefore, according to state Dept. of Environmental Protection standards, needs to restore the property to its original state and be done with it. But the Bakers won’t let them re-enter the property. So SWEPI is suing and the clock is ticking–they only have until December to put it back to original condition or the company will be fined $500/day until it’s done…
Read More “Tioga County, PA Landowners Won’t Let Driller Clean Up”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

Fayette County, WV Appeals Federal Court Ruling on Injection Well
August 19, 2016August 19, 2016

In January, three liberal Democrat county commissioners from Fayette County, WV, with the backing and help of the radical WV Mountain Party, voted to ban injection wells in the county (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). The ban was intentionally written so broadly it would also ban the operation of more than 500 vertical oil and gas wells in the county. The next day EQT sued to overturn the ban (see EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction). One of the chief architects of the ban, from the Mountain Party, admits the ban was intended to stop all oil and gas activity in the county (see Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells). Fearing they would lose the EQT lawsuit, in March the commissioners backed away from the position of banning everything to do with drilling in the county. They revised the proposed ban regulation as a tactic to avoid losing their court case (see Fayette WV Commissioners Change Ban to Focus on Injection Wells). In June, a federal judge tossed out Fayette’s illegal ban (see Federal Judge Rules Fayette County Injection Well Ban Illegal). Now the lib Dems, with the assistance of the radical Appalachian Mountain Advocates, has had the gall to appeal the federal judge’s decision…
Read More “Fayette County, WV Appeals Federal Court Ruling on Injection Well”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Sierra Club Lawsuit Seeks to Block Power Plant, Atlantic Coast Pipe
August 19, 2016August 19, 2016

In March 2015, Dominion–a huge natural gas and electric utility as well as a midstream company–announced plans to build the State of Virginia’s largest natural gas powered electric generating plant, in Greensville County, VA (see Virginia’s Largest Electric Plant to be Powered by Marcellus Gas). The $1.3 billion state-of-the-art natural gas-fired electric generating station will generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Dominion’s own $5 billion, 554-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline will provide cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus/Utica Shale gas to power it (see Atlantic Coast Pipeline Makes Progress, FERC Timing Announced). The Virginia State Corporate Commission (SCC) approved the project in March of this year (see Virginia Approves State’s Largest NatGas-Powered Electric Plant). In June, Dominion began construction (see Dominion Begins Building Virginia’s Biggest NatGas Power Station). On Tuesday, environmental Nazis from the Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed a federal lawsuit (in Virginia) to stop both the power plant and the pipeline, claiming the power plant won’t use the “best available emissions control technology” and that the pipeline will leak methane like a sieve…
Read More “Sierra Club Lawsuit Seeks to Block Power Plant, Atlantic Coast Pipe”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines

MA Supreme Court Ruling Endangers New England Gas Pipelines
August 18, 2016August 18, 2016

In September 2015, MDN told you that the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Utilities (DPU) approved long-term contracts for three utilities–Berkshire Gas, National Grid and Columbia Gas–to buy natural gas supplies from Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline, IF it gets built (see Mass. Approves Plan for Utilities to Buy Gas from New Pipeline). At the time we warned you that the global warming-mongers were not happy and threatening to sue the state. They did. The left-leaning Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed an appeal of the DPU’s decision with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in hopes that they can stop the project from being built if they can dry up demand from utility companies–i.e., prevent the utilities from buying NED gas (see Anti Group Sues to Stop Mass. Utilities from Buying Natural Gas). In the meantime, Kinder Morgan abandoned the NED project (see NED is Dead – Kinder Morgan Suspends $3.3B New England Pipeline). However, the lawsuit lives on. There are more pipelines that may be affected by such a decision, including Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast pipeline project–still very much alive. The worst has now happened. The MA Supreme Court has just ruled that utility companies, which are heavily regulated and the prices they can charge controlled, cannot pass along the cost of a pipeline to electric ratepayers…
Read More “MA Supreme Court Ruling Endangers New England Gas Pipelines”
Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Lawsuit Against Chesapeake, Anadarko Heads Back to PA Court
August 16, 2016August 16, 2016

Last December Pennsylvania’s felony-indicted Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, brought a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko and Williams accusing them of, among other things, royalty fraud (see PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud). In May MDN reported that Chesapeake and Anadarko had filed to dismiss Kane’s complaints against them, accusing Kane of attempting to litigate federal antitrust claims in state court (see Chesapeake, Anadarko Try to Wiggle Out of PA Royalty Lawsuit). In June Kane fired back by filing a motion to keep the case in state, not federal, court (see PA AG Files Motion to Keep Chesapeake Lawsuit in State Court). Yesterday U.S. Middle District Judge Christopher C. Conner granted Kane’s motion–the case will stay in state court…
Read More “Lawsuit Against Chesapeake, Anadarko Heads Back to PA Court”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Jury Finds PA AG Kathleen Kane Guilty of Committing Felonies
August 16, 2016August 16, 2016

Kathleen Kane convicted

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is no longer just felony-indicted. She’s now felony-convicted. Yesterday a jury of six women and six men spent 4 1/2 hours in deliberation following Kane’s trial for committing perjury, among other crimes, and they found her guilty of all nine counts against her. We’ve chronicled this long, sordid affair from the beginning. Kane is an enemy of the drilling industry–she has been from the beginning when she filed criminal charges against XTO Energy for an accidental spill that happened years before she took office. That case was settled just a few weeks ago (see Shakedown Complete: XTO Pays PA AG $400K to Make Case Go Away). Kane’s crimes and subsequent trial have nothing to do with the Marcellus industry. Although she is the top law enforcement officer in the state, Kane is now a convicted criminal facing up to 28 years in jail for her crimes. Yet she still has not resigned her office. If Kane does not resign within the next day or two, look for the PA legislature move swiftly to impeach, convict and forcibly remove her from office…
Read More “Jury Finds PA AG Kathleen Kane Guilty of Committing Felonies”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Elk County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Seneca Resources | Wastewater

Elk County Town Wises Up, Abandons Effort to Block Injection Well
August 15, 2016August 15, 2016

There is a new development in the case of an illegal ban on injection wells passed by Highland Township in Elk County, PA. In 2013 the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) convinced ignoramuses in Highland Township to pass a so-called Community Bill of Rights. Seneca Resources, a driller with leases and an active drilling program in Elk, had planned to drill an injection well on their own property to dispose of their own flowback and produced water. The CELDF-inspired ordinance Highland Twp prevented it, and Seneca threatened to sue the town (see Seneca Resources Threatens to Sue PA Town over Injection Well). Seneca made good and filed to sue, but the town and CELDF tried to prevent the lawsuit. In March of this year, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ruled that Seneca has standing to sue and allowed the lawsuit to go forward (see Judge Rules Seneca May Challenge Injection Well Ban in Elk County). Faced with losing the lawsuit and taxpayers owing Seneca big money, township supervisors voted to overturn the so-called Community Bill of Rights. Another crushing defeat for the CELDF…
Read More “Elk County Town Wises Up, Abandons Effort to Block Injection Well”
Brooke County | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Marshall County | Ohio County | Taxation | West Virginia | Wetzel County

4 WV Counties Refuse to Grant Statoil $6.6 Million in Tax Refunds
August 15, 2016August 15, 2016

Brooke County, WV makes it four for four in denying Statoil’s request to refund tax overpayments made by the company. Statoil, based in Norway, is a big player in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale. Statoil paid property taxes to Brooke, Marshall, Ohio and Wetzel counties (all in WV) in 2015 and later found, during an audit/review, that they had overpaid those counties. They overpaid Brooke by $1.8 million, Ohio by $2.9 million, Wetzel by $1.6 million and Marshall by $342,000. We previously reported on Marshall’s refusal to refund the money (see Statoil Wants Millions in Refunds from Tax Overpayments in WV). The WV Tax Department argues that Statoil “acted negligently” and exercised “poor judgment” in not finding the mistake sooner. With Brooke’s refusal, all four counties have now voted to deny Statoil’s request. Statoil is (so far) taking Marshall and Ohio counties to court, suing them for refunds. They are “assessing…options” with respect to suing Wetzel and Brooke. You can bet your bottom dollar they will…
Read More “4 WV Counties Refuse to Grant Statoil $6.6 Million in Tax Refunds”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

The Evil Empire Strikes Back Against Exxon in Court Case
August 12, 2016August 12, 2016

Yesterday MDN brought you the story of how New York’s disgusting Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has been colluding “unlawfully” with other AGs, including the equally disgusting Massachusetts AG Maura Healey (see Letter Proves NY AG, Others “Unlawfully” Ganged Up on ExxonMobil). In June Exxon sued AG Healey–in U.S. District Court for the Northern District in Fort Worth, Texas, attempting to strike a blow against the monolithic and overreaching power of the government (see Exxon Fights Back Against Mass. AG’s Illegal Subpoena). Think of it this way: Exxon is the Rebel Force in Star Wars (the good guys), and Schneiderman/Healey are the Evil Empire (the bad guys). The Empire Strikes Back. Healey filed a motion in that Texas court on Monday asking the judge to dismiss Exxon’s case. In other words, she wants to smash Exxon’s right to free speech. If Exxon doesn’t agree that the fairy tale of man-made global warming exists, and that their product is polluting the planet, Healey wants the right to throw them in jail and take all their money. That’s what this is about. Unbridled, Nazi-like powers against private citizens and private companies by a state run amok…
Read More “The Evil Empire Strikes Back Against Exxon in Court Case”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Bloomberg Predicts Court Will Strip NY’s Right to Stop Constitution
August 11, 2016August 11, 2016

We have been making the point, loudly, for the past year, that IF New York State blocks the Constitution Pipeline, as they have now done, the state runs the very real risk of having the federal government strip away their right to make such decisions about any federally-approved pipeline project. We’ve previously warned that New York is in grave danger of losing their power by attempting to block the Constitution. We wrote the following in October 2015: When MDN editor Jim Willis attended the Shale Insight conference in Philadelphia in September, he listened to a panel discussion of midstream (pipeline) experts, including a former FERC commissioner. He got to ask a question and the question, roughly, was this: “The NY DEC is currently holding up the FERC-approved Constitution Pipeline. What if the DEC refuses to issue the necessary permits? What happens next?” The answer Jim got was, “It depends.” The bottom line seems to be that it’s likely FERC (and Williams) will need to take the DEC to court. The DEC frankly has no legal right to prevent a federally approved project from being built. That’s the bottom line. It may take a court to force the DEC (and Gov. Cuomo) to act, but in this matter the law is on our side. This is not a question of “if,” it is a question of “when” the pipeline will get built (see Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline). And now we get to brag about how prescient we were. Williams did indeed have to take New York to court, and now a Bloomberg analyst has written an article expressing essentially the same sentiment we expressed last year (see it below), saying Williams–the builder of the Constitution Pipeline–is “favored to prevail” in one (if not both) legal challenges they have filed. A victory by Williams will result in neutering New York’s authority to block this and other similar projects…
Read More “Bloomberg Predicts Court Will Strip NY’s Right to Stop Constitution”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Williams

Court Rejects Dela. Riverkeeper Case Against PA DEP Pipe Approval
August 11, 2016August 11, 2016

Time to do a happy dance. THE (arrogant) Delaware Riverkeeper has lost yet another court case–one of many such cases they continuously file to stop any fossil fuel-related project in the northeast. In March MDN told you that THE Delaware Riverkeeper had sued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, challenging their decision to approve the Williams Transco Pipeline’s Leidy Southeast Expansion from PA to New York City (see Dela. Riverkeeper Sues FERC Again – Over Leidy Pipeline Expansion). Riverkeeper wanted to hedge its bets–so at some point (not sure when) they also sued the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Riverkeeper’s philosophical clones at the New Jersey Conservation Foundation sued the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) claiming the agencies acted “arbitrarily or capriciously” in granting state permits for the Leidy Southeast Expansion project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit this week slapped down Riverkeeper and their clones in NJ, saying the states were well within their rights to grant those permits, and they did nothing wrong…
Read More “Court Rejects Dela. Riverkeeper Case Against PA DEP Pipe Approval”