Litigation

Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction
January 20, 2016January 20, 2016

That was fast. A week ago three Democrat county commissioners in Fayette County, West Virginia voted to ban injection wells in the county (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). Immediately after that vote was taken (last Tuesday), on Wednesday EQT filed a lawsuit against the county. EQT not only operates an injection well in the county, they also operate 200 conventional oil and gas wells in the county, providing the county with $100,000 per year in tax revenue, and “tens of thousands of dollars in royalty payments” to private landowners. According to EQT’s lawsuit, the ban in Fayette is so broad, it would prohibit not only injection wells, but all oil and gas production in the county. EQT is seeking an injunction to stop enforcement of the new ban while the court case plays out. The county will now spend big bucks to defend their farcical ban that will no doubt end up being overturned. Perhaps taxpayers want to rethink whom they elect as county commissioners?…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

XTO Sues DOJ for Documents Needed in PA Trial over 2010 Spill
January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

Last Thursday XTO Energy sued the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain documents that XTO says may help clear its good name in the vicious (we’d say illegal) criminal lawsuit against it over an accidental spill that happened in Lycoming County, PA in 2010. The DOJ investigated and found XTO did not act criminally and the case was settled. Then, more than three years later, PA’s new Attorney General, Kathleen Kane (now under criminal indictment herself and about to be removed from office) decided she would charge XTO with crimes against the environment–for an accident (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Since the feds had already investigated and found no wrongdoing, XTO would like their documents to use in defending themselves in a lawsuit that’s about to begin (see XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016). But the feds are dragging their feet and making fishy excuses, like they don’t have enough secretaries to find and copy all of the documents requested. XTO has had to sue the DOJ to force them to go find the documents…
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American Water Management | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

AWMS Appeals Decision Upholding Trumbull Injection Well Closure
January 11, 2016January 11, 2016

American Water Management Services (AWMS) owns a wastewater injection well in Trumbull County that supposedly caused a low-level earthquake (that nobody could feel) in 2014. Two wells located at the site, both operated by AWMS, were “temporarily” shut down by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources following the quake (see ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake). One of the two injection wells was allowed to re-open, but not the other (see ODNR Clears Trumbull Co. Injection Well in August Quake). However, AWMS can’t open just the one well. They need to open both and operate both. The ODNR is supposedly crafting new regulations that will govern the offending well that may or may not have caused the low-level quake and a year-and-a-half later the ODNR has not released those new regs. Meanwhile, everyone at that operation is out of a job. AWMS appealed the closure and last month a county judge threw out the appeal (see Judge Tosses Appeal to Re-Open Trumbull, OH Injection Well). So AWMS has appealed it to the next level up–the 10th District Court of Appeals…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Shell | Steuben County

NY Town Barred from Selling Water to Shell for PA Fracking
January 7, 2016January 7, 2016

In March 2012, the village board in Painted Post (Steuben County), NY voted to sell water to Shell for use in fracking operations across the border in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) gave its blessing to Painted Post to sell up to 1 million gallons of water day. But the decision didn’t sit well with power-hungry anti-drillers. The nutters from the radical Sierra Club sued to stop the deal in June 2012 (see Sierra Club Sues to Stop Water Sales in Steuben County, NY). A lower court ruled in favor of the radicals and struck down the deal. On appeal, a corrupt state appellate court has upheld the lower court’s ruling. Shell will have to find water from another source–not that they’re drilling any wells right now anyway…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation

Antis Celebrate OH Appeals Court Hearing with Street Dramatization
January 6, 2016January 6, 2016

Note: Somewhere along the way MDN received incorrect information and previously said the case was being heard by the Ohio Supreme Court. It is not. It is being heard by the 8th District Court of Appeals. Our error!

It may be impolite to say so, but those who oppose fossil fuels, and therefore oppose drilling, and pipelines, and anything/everything to do with fossil fuels, are just plain nuts. They prove it, repeatedly, with their words and their actions. Take the group which purportedly represents a coalition of groups and individuals in Ohio called the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN). Today the 8th District Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a case where one Ohio community, Broadview Heights, illegally tried to pass a so-called Community Bill of Rights that bans fracking. That measure got tossed by lower courts (see OH Antis Handed Crushing Defeat in Broadview Hghts Home Rule Case). But that hasn’t stopped the green faithful from appealing and appealing and appealing. They finally got their day before the high court–so what do they do? They issue a press release calling oil and gas drillers, and the State of Ohio, Goliath, and of course they cast themselves and the wacko citizens of Broadview Heights who passed the frack ban as David. Further, to commemorate this “historic event,” the crazies from OHCRN will present a “street dramatization” at 11:30 am today to illustrate the David vs. Goliath nature of the case…
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Berks County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

How to Successfully Negotiate a Pipeline Easement & How Not To
January 5, 2016January 5, 2016

This is the story of two landowners in Berks County, PA whose property Sunoco Logistics needs to cross/use for the Mariner 2 set of pipelines. One landowner, on whose property Sunoco not only wants to install the pipeline but also wants to install a big valve in his front yard, successfully negotiated with Sunoco and got his price. The other landowner, who owns a dog park where Sunoco wants to put a pipeline, hasn’t negotiated and is trying to stop the pipeline from coming through his property. Guess which landowner will be the biggest loser? Here’s the story of how to craft a pipeline deal, and how not to, if you are a landowner faced with the threat of eminent domain…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA AG’s Lawsuit Derails Demchak/Chesapeake Royalty Settlement
January 4, 2016January 4, 2016

In March 2015 MDN reported on the “Demchak” royalty case in which a group of Pennsylvania landowners had agreed to a settlement with Chesapeake over Chessy’s alleged shorting of royalty payments (see Chesapeake’s PA Royalty Settlement Affects Some, Not All Landowners). As we reported at the time, “several thousand” landowners sharing two-thirds of the $11 million settlement (the other one-third going to the lawyers) didn’t seem all that great a deal to us. But we’re not PA landowners with a dog in this fight. Toward the end of last year the issue got heated again as landowners (many landowners) were faced with a decision of whether or not to opt out of the settlement (see Packed Meeting in Towanda Discusses Chesapeake Royalty Settlement). Then along came PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane, herself under indictment for felony crimes, with her own lawsuit against Chesapeake over the royalty issue (see PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud). It seems Kane’s lawsuit has now put the brakes on the Demchak settlement that was supposed to have taken place in early February. That plan is now delayed…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Time for Williams/FERC to Sue NY & End Constitution Pipe Delays
January 4, 2016January 4, 2016

In October of last year MDN added our name to the effort to pressure Gov. Andrew Cuomo to let his Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) move forward with granting water-crossing permits for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline (see Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline). The corrupt Andrew Cuomo is up to his old tricks–delay and eventually deny. The time has now come to force the issue. A DEC official has admitted his agency is on the precipice. If they don’t issue the permit for the Constitution, New York is in danger of a federal takeover in granting such permits (see DEC Official Says NY in Danger of FERC Taking Over Pipeline Permits). We say that time has now come. It’s time for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to use its power to override New York and issue the permit and forever sideline Cuomo’s corrupt administration from playing a role in such issues. It’s also time for Williams to man-up and ue New York and go negative against “the Empire State.” That is the theme and MDN friend Tom Shepstone’s latest excellent article (from Natural Gas Now), which we’re re-posting here on MDN. We’ve seen this movie before with fracking. Cuomo intends to deny this pipeline and now is the time to fight it for all it’s worth, using every legal means possible to move forward with building the Constitution…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Snyder Brothers | Statewide PA | Taxation

Impact “Fee” or Impact “Tax”? It Matters in this (Court) Case
December 30, 2015December 30, 2015

Is the money collected from drillers in Pennsylvania for wells a fee, or a tax? Under the Act 13 law passed in 2012, it’s called an impact fee. We’ve long made the case that it’s part fee, part tax (see our story from 2012: PA’s New Tax on Drilling (er Sorry, Impact Fee)). Our definition, which we think makes eminent sense, is that a fee is money collected to reimburse the government for a service used. You drill a well in a community, you run big trucks over rural roads–those roads get damaged and it takes money to repair them. Or if there’s an accident because of the increase in traffic and fire/police are called out more frequently–there’s a cost associated. Local towns meeting to review and debate requests related to new wells? Takes precious time, and money. The impact fee, as originally intended, would compensate local municipalities for out-of-pocket expenses they incur when drilling comes to town. But then greedy politicians who like money to flow through their stick fingers got involved and in order to “sell” the impact fee in Harrisburg, compromises were made. In the end, 60% of the money collected from the impact “fee” stays local–to reimburse towns and counties for out-of-pocket expenses. The other 40% goes into the Harrisburg black hole and disappears into the fingers of local and state politicians who don’t incur any expense from drilling. So we call that 40% portion a tax–an obscene one at that. Why does it matter whether it’s considered a tax or a fee? Because of a Commonwealth Court case in which a driller maintains it’s a tax and the company doesn’t owe it if it’s considered a tax…
Read More “Impact “Fee” or Impact “Tax”? It Matters in this (Court) Case”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Tioga County (PA)

PA Supreme Court Gives EQT “Procedural Victory” in $4.5M Fine Case
December 30, 2015December 30, 2015

Over a year ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined PA driller EQT $4.53 million for a leaky wastewater impoundment in Tioga County, PA (see PA DEP Levies Biggest Fine Ever, $4.5M Against EQT). While EQT is not saying there wasn’t a problem with leaks at the site, they are saying the way the DEP is calculating the fine is unreasonable and arbitrary. In fact, EQT says the DEP levied the fine and took EQT to court because a few weeks prior EQT has sued the DEP. Seems to be a tit for tat thing going on. There is, more than a year later, a development in the case. EQT appealed the fine and the case to PA Supreme Court and the high court has just handed EQT a “procedural victory” by saying EQT has a point about the manner in which the DEP is calculating the fine. The Supreme Court has sent the case back to a lower court for follow up work…
Read More “PA Supreme Court Gives EQT “Procedural Victory” in $4.5M Fine Case”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Federal Judge Rules for EQT in Ohio Lease Dispute – Ramifications
December 29, 2015December 29, 2015

An important decision was recently made in a lease case in Ohio–a case which has implications for both drillers and landowners with Marcellus/Utica leases. Driller EQT signed a lease with Jefferson County, OH landowner Alex Cooper on Oct. 6, 2008. The initial term of the lease was for five years, with a five year extension IF EQT makes an extension payment. The lease also stipulates that EQT MUST drill a well on or before Oct 6, 2013–the end of the first term of the lease. EQT opted to extend the lease, making (or rather attempting to make) a payment to Cooper–but EQT did not drill a well by Oct 6, 2013. Cooper claimed since EQT hadn’t drilled, the lease expired on Oct 6, 2013 and he is free to lease again. The case ended up in Federal District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley decided in favor of EQT, even though the language in the lease stipulates a well MUST be drilled during the first term of the lease. How and why did Judge Marbley decide the case as he did? Below is a recap of the case, followed by a copy of the full decision from Judge Marbley…
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American Water Management | Earthquakes | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Wastewater

Judge Tosses Appeal to Re-Open Trumbull, OH Injection Well
December 29, 2015December 29, 2015

It appears that in Ohio it’s A.O.K. for regulatory bodies to write laws–something the legislature is supposed to do–and not only can they write laws, they can take their sweet time doing it, denying a legally permitted business the right to conduct operations in the meantime. And if the legally permitted business seeks justice in the court system? Yeah, even the judge sides with the all-powerful state to prevent that business from operating. That about sums up the situation in Ohio for American Water Management Services (AWMS). AWMS owns a wastewater injection well in Trumbull County that supposedly caused a low-level earthquake (that nobody could feel) in 2014. Two wells located at the site, both operated by AWMS, were “temporarily” shut down by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources following the quake (see ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake). One of the two injection wells was allowed to re-open, but not the other (see ODNR Clears Trumbull Co. Injection Well in August Quake). Why was one well allowed to re-open but not the other? Because the ODNR is supposedly crafting new regulations that will govern the offending well that may or may not have caused the low-level quake. When will we see those new regs? Who knows! AWMS appealed ODNR’s decision to keep the second well shut down to the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, a body that works for (yes) the ODNR. Unsurprisingly the Commission found ODNR is within its right to keep the second well shut down while it takes its time writing new regulations. AWMS appealed the Commission’s decision to a court, and the judge threw out the case because of a filing deadline legal hoop AWMS didn’t jump through properly…
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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Research

Lawsuit Forces NOAA to Disclose Climate Data Tampering
December 23, 2015December 23, 2015

It turns out that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has something to hide with respect to the data it collects on so-called climate change. NOAA is the point agency in the United States for collecting weather and temperature data and disseminating that data for others to use. Science should be science–facts should be facts. But there’s been funny business going on inside of NOAA, and now they’re trying to cover it up. The so-called data coming from NOAA, it’s now being discovered, has been tampered with. Changed. Modified. Cherry-picked. Use whatever term you want. We’d call it scientific fraud. It took a lawsuit by the valiant organization Judicial Watch to force NOAA to release internal documents at NOAA that prove NOAA has been playing fast and loose with climate data…
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Accidents | Anadarko | Clinton County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania

Fed Court Rules PA Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Anadarko Proceeds
December 22, 2015December 22, 2015

In May 2012 a water truck driver delivering water to an Anadarko Marcellus Shale well pad in Clinton County, PA missed a turnoff for the road he was supposed to take, at 2:30 am in the morning. A couple of miles later he crashed and tragically died because the road he was on was not marked well and not conducive to the truck he was driving. There was a sign warning the driver not to go beyond a certain point. The driver had previously–that night–already delivered to the well pad and successfully turned onto the road he was supposed to take. Why did he miss it the second time? His widow maintains that even though he worked for a subcontractor, Anadarko was the company in charge and should have had a light illuminating the “No Anadarko Traffic Beyond This Point” sign. So she sued Anadarko, and the subcontractor, for wrongful death. Lower courts threw out the lawsuit but a federal appeals court has just reinstated a civil suit against Anadarko that will go to a jury…
Read More “Fed Court Rules PA Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Anadarko Proceeds”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics | Washington County

Judge Rules Yes, Mariner East Pipe IS a Public Utility After All
December 21, 2015December 21, 2015

In June we told you that Sunoco Logistics Partners had sued two different families/landowners in Washington County, PA using eminent domain to complete a pipeline part of the Mariner East project (see Mariner East Invokes Eminent Domain Against 2 SWPA Landowners). As we said at the time, nobody wins when it comes to using eminent domain for pipelines. In the case of the Mariner East pipeline, the ongoing legal question/issue has been whether or not the pipeline qualifies as a public utility with the right to invoke eminent domain. Last week a Washington County judge ruled that yes, Mariner East is a public utility and that the state of Pennsylvania controls permitting for the pipeline, not the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Washington County landowners who sued have lost their appeal of the eminent domain case against Sunoco, and the pipeline will now cut through their property…
Read More “Judge Rules Yes, Mariner East Pipe IS a Public Utility After All”
Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Williams

PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud
December 10, 2015December 10, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who has been indicted on numerous felony charges and likely to be forced from office any day now, filed a lawsuit yesterday against Chesapeake Energy in Bradford County Court over the issue of shorting landowners out of royalties. What every story we’ve seen (thus far) misses is this: The lawsuit also names Williams as participating in the scheme to defraud landowners out of royalty payments. So this is not just a Chesapeake story, it’s a Williams story too. Landowner groups are “hailing” the decision, jumping up and down with glee. Let us throw a little cold water on your face. Note to landowners and the groups that represent them: When you (metaphorically) crawl into bed with Kathleen Kane, you’re crawling into bed with a rattlesnake. Sooner or later she’s going to turn on you too. Mark it down. It’s in her nature. With that disclaimer in place, we’ll break down the news for you, and show you a copy of the lawsuit Kane’s office filed yesterday…
Read More “PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud”