Litigation

Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | M&A | Williams

Williams Files 3rd Lawsuit Against ETE to Force Merger by June 28
May 16, 2016May 16, 2016

Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) pushed and prodded and poked and cajoled and insisted, and finally with the help of an inside corporate raider, forced Williams to agree to a buyout/merger (see Williams Accepts ETE’s “Indecent Proposal” – Price Went Down $10B). Then the bottom dropped out of the price of natural gas and drillers scaled back drilling and consequently midstream (i.e. pipeline) companies like ETE and Williams got pinched. And ETE got cold feet (see ETE Wants Out of Williams Merger/Takeover, Offering $2B Breakup Fee). Williams said “not so fast, you wanted us, you’ll be taking us” and consequently sued ETE to force the merger to happen (see Merger Turns Sour: Williams Sues ETE/CEO Kelcy Warren). On Friday, Williams filed their third lawsuit to force ETE to complete the merger. ETE’s CEO Kelsey Warren says Williams is “meritless” and will “lead to delays” in the merger. What in the world is going on?…
Read More “Williams Files 3rd Lawsuit Against ETE to Force Merger by June 28”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Wins Another Virginia Court Case
May 16, 2016July 7, 2016

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Route – Virginia (click for larger version)

Last year MDN reported that anti-drilling landowners in Nelson and Augusta counties (Virginia) who don’t want a pipeline to mar their weekend horse farm pastures refused to allow surveyors for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline access to their precious pastures. Dominion, the company building the 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline that will run from West Virginia, through Virginia and into North Carolina, took the antis to federal court and won (see Fed Judge Tosses VA Landowner Lawsuit to Stop Pipeline Surveys). The same landowners won’t leave it alone and took Dominion back to court (county court in this case) over the surveys. The county judge found that Dominion’s survey notices are “insufficient” because they use imprecise language about when the surveys will take place. But the judge essentially threw out everything else. In other words, this was yet another victory for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a pipeline that WILL get built…
Read More “Atlantic Coast Pipeline Wins Another Virginia Court Case”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Launches Lawsuit Against Atlantic Sunrise Project
May 13, 2016May 13, 2016

It’s time to sue THE Delaware Riverkeeper out of existence. The group is a litigious nuisance and anti-American. It is led by Maya van Rossum and fed by money from the Heinz Endowments and William Penn Foundation. Even with repeated calls the IRS has refused to investigate violations of the group’s non-profit status. The latest outrage from this group of virulent radicals is to launch a lawsuit to try and stop Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project through southeastern PA. Just last week Williams received a favorable Environmental Assessment (EA) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Positive EIS from FERC). That was all it took. The writing is on the wall that FERC will approve the project and Williams will build it. This is a last-ditch effort by van Rossum and other radicals to shut down the project…
Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Launches Lawsuit Against Atlantic Sunrise Project”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Attorney Predicts DMA Ruling to Come Soon, Settle Now
May 12, 2016May 12, 2016

David J Wigham

MDN has been reporting on the Ohio Dormant Minerals Act (DMA) for years (see Video: OH Lawyers Explain Dormant Minerals Act & Impact on Utica). In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer back to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem, for drillers and for landowners in Ohio, is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. A number of DMA cases have gone before the Ohio Supreme Court. Some of the minor cases have been decided (see Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Important Dormant Mineral Act Case). However, most of the big cases remain stalled at the Supreme Court. That is, until now. Ohio attorney David Wigham (Roetzel & Andress law firm) says there are signs that the Supremes are about to release a massive, all-in-one-go ruling on the DMA. He says if landowners (and drillers) were waiting to see which way the wind will blow, they may want to settle now before the Big Decision comes down…
Read More “OH Attorney Predicts DMA Ruling to Come Soon, Settle Now”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | SWEPI

District Court Judge Tosses PA Landowner’s Lack-of-Drilling Case
May 10, 2016May 10, 2016

This is the tale of landowners who negotiated a lease without consulting a qualified oil and gas attorney, and later regretted the decision. In 2008 the owners of a small hunting and fishing camp in Tioga County, PA negotiated and signed a lease with East Resources, which was later sold to SWEPI (i.e. the shale drilling arm of Shell). The lease, so the landowners thought, guaranteed that 11 wells would be drilled on the 240-acre property, and that a pipeline would be used to flow gas only from those wells. The landowners got a nice signing bonus–$287,000. They also got $164,000 for a pipeline right-of-way. But only one well was ever drilled–and it’s capped. And there is a pipeline–flowing other people’s gas through it. The landowners sued and a district court judge ruled last week that the landowners don’t have a case for their “shattered dreams” as they thought they did. It all comes down to a poorly worded lease and signing a lease without running it by a lawyer first…
Read More “District Court Judge Tosses PA Landowner’s Lack-of-Drilling Case”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Wastewater

Enviro Nazis File Lawsuit to “Force” EPA to End Injection Wells
May 6, 2016May 6, 2016

A group of radical/leftist environmental groups have just launched their latest “sue and settle” case against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For a description of the despicable practice of sue and settle, where our own government colludes with these groups in a faux lawsuit which “forces” an agency to do what it wanted to do but couldn’t otherwise under existing laws, see this MDN story: Environmentalists & Government Collude in “Sue and Settle” Cases. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of the worst of the worst, is working with Environmental Integrity Project, Earthworks, Responsible Drilling Alliance, San Juan Citizens Alliance, West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in filing a lawsuit against the EPA to “force” the EPA to stop the practice of disposing of frack wastewater via injection wells. If you can’t get rid of the wastewater, you can’t drill–which is the purpose of this latest assault on freedom and free enterprise in the U.S. These commie dirtbag pinkos (yes, we’ll tell you what we REALLY think!) are working WITH the EPA to grant the EPA sweeping new powers, via judicial decree, to shut down the oil and gas industry. This must stop…
Read More “Enviro Nazis File Lawsuit to “Force” EPA to End Injection Wells”
Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation

South Fayette, PA Restrictive Drilling Ordinance Tossed by Judge
May 4, 2016May 4, 2016

Something noteworthy has happened in western Pennsylvania and (so far) local media has chosen not to cover it. So MDN is happy to break the following story about South Fayette Township in Allegheny County (near Pittsburgh). South Fayette is one of seven PA towns that sued the state after the Act 13 law was enacted in 2012 (see Lawsuit Filed: PA Towns Sue State over Marcellus Act 13 Law). Ultimately the towns won their case at the PA Supreme Court level, winning the right to enact their own ordinances with respect to oil and gas drilling. A nutty concept that towns have the necessary skills to regulate a complex industry like oil and gas–but there you go. Range Resources and landowners in the town, including Cuddy Partners, have had a long-running feud with the town over their hyper-restrictive ordinances (see Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article Drilling regulations face challenge in South Fayette). In 2015 South Fayette decided to revise their ordinance yet again with respect to shale drilling, making the ordinance even more restrictive than before. Cuddy Partners and Alpine Partners (landowners in the town) sued over the revised ordinance. The lawsuit alleged the ordinance was improperly enacted–rushed through without proper public notice. Last week Allegheny Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph James agreed and ruled that the South Fayette revised ordinance is “invalid, null and void”…
Read More “South Fayette, PA Restrictive Drilling Ordinance Tossed by Judge”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | PennEast Pipeline

PennEast Responds to Sham NJ Lawsuit Re Surveying w/o Permission
May 4, 2016May 4, 2016

PennEast Pipeline Route Map – click image for larger version

A couple of radical anti-fossil fuel groups, aided and abetted by a few landowners (members of said groups) have filed a frivolous lawsuit on Monday in New Jersey Superior Court against PennEast Pipeline claiming surveyors have illegally trespassed on private property to conduct surveys–against the wishes of said radicals, some of whom happen to be landowners in the path of the proposed pipeline. PennEast Pipeline is a $1 billion, 118-mile pipeline project that will run from near Wilkes-Barre, PA to near Trenton, NJ. The two groups behind this latest sleazy lawsuit are Homeowners Against Land Taking – PennEast Inc. (HALT PennEast) and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. There’s nothing like a good lawsuit to drive more donations. “Help! We’re David and we’re suing Goliath. We need YOUR money.” Pathetic. PennEast has responded that the claims of trespassing to survey are (our words) horse manure. PennEast checks carefully before entering a property to survey. The pipeline company said when they get a copy of the frivolous lawsuit they will mount a vigorous defense. The radicals just may have bitten off more than they can chew this time…
Read More “PennEast Responds to Sham NJ Lawsuit Re Surveying w/o Permission”
American Energy Partners | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Court Declares “Implied Right” to Pool Oil & Gas Leases
May 2, 2016May 2, 2016

A circuit court judge recently ruled on a case in West Virginia with implications for unitization or pooling. No, NOT forced pooling–or forcing landowners who haven’t signed a lease into a drilling unit, forcing drilling under their land. That’s not what this case was about. This case was about landowners with an already-signed lease for vertical wells now being used to allow that land to be pooled with other land and a horizontal well allowed to be drilled under it. The landowners, who wanted a new lease for horizontal drilling (and more money, which is reasonable in our opinion) said because the lease was silent on the matter of pooling or unitizing, it should not be allowed. The judge disagreed and found in favor of the energy company, in this case American Energy…
Read More “WV Court Declares “Implied Right” to Pool Oil & Gas Leases”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Tioga County (PA)

PA Supreme Court Decision on Deeds Affects Some O&G, Landowners
April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

Ever hear of a legal doctrine called “estoppel by deed”? No, we hadn’t either. But if you’re an attorney who specializes in oil and gas mineral rights in Pennsylvania, you may have. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently decided a case that upholds state laws of estoppel by deed. The case, called Shedden v. Anadarko, revolved around landowners in Tioga County, PA who thought they owned all of the mineral rights to 62 acres, only to find out half the rights belonged to someone else going all the way back to the 1800s. From there it gets complicated. What we can tell you is that some attorneys were concerned that the newly reconstituted PA Supreme Court would overturn the estoppel by deed law in the state–but that didn’t happen. Estoppel by deed is safe and sound in PA. Here’s the details…
Read More “PA Supreme Court Decision on Deeds Affects Some O&G, Landowners”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines

Radical Sierra Club Sues NJ to Stop Much-Needed NatGas Pipeline
April 28, 2016April 28, 2016

In January MDN told you about a $130 million, 30-mile natural gas pipeline proposed by New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) to connect NJNG’s distribution system serving customers in Ocean, Burlington and Monmouth counties (in NJ) and the interstate pipeline system adjacent to the New Jersey Turnpike. The idea came about after Superstorm Sandy. How can NJNG create reliable natgas service in the region, preventing major disruptions like that which happened after Sandy? The “Southern Reliability Link” pipeline project was the result, and in January the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved it 5-0 (see Southern NJ NatGas Pipeline Approved by State BPU). Because its natural gas and because the Sierra Club has an irrational hatred of all fossil fuels (and loads of money to burn), the nutjobs from the Sierra Club threatened to sue to stop it. Stop 30 miles of pipeline that would improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. They’ve now made good on their threat…
Read More “Radical Sierra Club Sues NJ to Stop Much-Needed NatGas Pipeline”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Cabot/Williams to NY: You Lied Re Constitution Pipe, We’re Suing
April 26, 2016April 26, 2016

The partners in the Constitution Pipeline, including Williams and Cabot Oil & Gas, have come roaring back against Gov. Cuomo and his pusillanimous Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) after the DEC lied last Friday in announcing they would not grant stream crossing permits for the pipeline project. Yesterday Cabot, along with Williams, issued a STRONGLY worded rebuttal that says, in part that the DEC’s “stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science.” Flagrant misstatements is another way of saying the DEC lied, which is exactly what we said yesterday (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). The new statement also says the Constitution worked closely with the DEC for three years and bent over backwards, forwards and in every other possible direction to meet the DEC’s requests and requirements. The statement says “The project sponsors will pursue all available options to challenge the legality and appropriateness of New York’s decision.” In other words, we’re suing to force this project through. Good! About time!! Here’s the full statement (take time to read it)…
Read More “Cabot/Williams to NY: You Lied Re Constitution Pipe, We’re Suing”
Elk County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources | Wastewater

PA Town May Change Charter as Tactic to Stop Injection Well
April 25, 2016April 25, 2016

dodo bird

In 2013 the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) convinced enough ignoramuses in Highland Township (Elk County, PA) 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 passed 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 late March of this year, a judge overruled the objections of the radical CELDF and the nutjobs from town board (see Judge Rules Seneca May Challenge Injection Well Ban in Elk County). The latest in this ongoing saga is that the obstinate dupes from Highland, still listening to the CELDF (which has lost every home rule case brought against it) now plans to set up a home-rule charter commission–essentially change the town’s incorporation status. It’s a tactic of the desperate to try and circumvent state law…
Read More “PA Town May Change Charter as Tactic to Stop Injection Well”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Statewide NY

Coverup & Collusion: NY AG Tried to Conceal Role of Antis re Exxon
April 20, 2016April 20, 2016

Is this the smoking gun that proves collusion and corruption between Democrat New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and radical Big Green groups? In March, AG Schneiderman and a handful of other Democrat Attorneys General, along with climate huckster Al Gore, gathered in New York City to discuss a coordinated legal attack against oil and gas companies (see Climate Change Hucksters, Incl. NY AG & Al Gore, Threaten O&G). MDN has been shouting since last year that Schneiderman, himself a corrupt politician occupying the state’s highest legal office, has begun a witch hunt targeting companies like ExxonMobil, a company Schneiderman has slated for trial and execution (see NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’ and NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials). It’s obscene and beyond words. Schneiderman wants to prosecute legitimate corporations for not publicly saying “I believe in man-made global warming.” Back to the NYC meeting a couple of weeks ago. At that meeting was Matt Pawa, a Massachusetts lawyer and radical “green” who launches lawsuit after lawsuit on climate change (what a stupid phrase, of course the climate changes!). AG Schneiderman’s office asked Pawa to keep his participation in the March meeting in NYC a secret. We have it in an email. Can anyone say cover up? Collusion? Fraud? Corruption?…
Read More “Coverup & Collusion: NY AG Tried to Conceal Role of Antis re Exxon”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Maryland | Statewide MD

Green Groups Ask DC Judge to Stop Construction at Cove Point LNG
April 20, 2016April 20, 2016

Big Green groups, including the nutty Sierra Club, the left-leaning Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the odious Earthjustice continue to pump money and lawyers and time into an effort to stop progress on Dominion’s construction of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cove Point, Maryland. As of March the Cove Point project was already a quarter done (see Cove Point LNG Export Plant Now 24% Complete, Rapid Progress). Last June Earthjustice and its co-conspirators filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission claiming that FERC was wrong to issue a permit for the facility (see Earthjustice Asks Court to Stop Construction at Cove Point LNG). Yesterday the nutjobs got their day in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, once again asking the judges to stop construction at the site so they can litigate it into eternity…
Read More “Green Groups Ask DC Judge to Stop Construction at Cove Point LNG”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Martian Victory! 2 Wells Near Mars School Nearly Done Drilling
April 19, 2016April 19, 2016

As we have long chronicled, a few anti-drilling parents from the Mars School District (Butler County, far western part of the state), backed by a couple of Big Green groups from the other side of the state (THE Delaware Riverkeeper and the Clean Air Council, both based in the Philadelphia area), sued Middlesex Township to stop shale drilling in rural portions of the county. Rex Energy had applied for, was legally permitted for, but wasn’t allowed to drill a series of wells some three-fourths of a mile from the Mars School (for background, see our long list of “Martian” stories here). After costing local taxpayers more than $35,000 in legal fees, last November a county judge finally told Rex Energy they could go ahead and drill (see PA County Judge Rules Rex Can Begin Drilling First Martian Well). The fantastic news is, Rex has drilled! The company has drilled two initial wells which will be done within the next couple of weeks. Time to celebrate! NOTE: Somehow, against all odds, no children were harmed in the drilling of these wells…
Read More “Martian Victory! 2 Wells Near Mars School Nearly Done Drilling”