Litigation

Yesterday MDN brought you the story of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association’s (PIOGA) third request to intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit decided by the PA Supreme Court (see PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13). The point of PIOGA’s request is to make the DEP follow PA law when it comes to granting shale drilling permits. Our headline and some of the language we used in that article was not completely accurate–we’d like to admit that right up front (although our inaccuracy was not intentional). The headline states that the DEP has denied permits based on portions of the Act 13 lawsuit tossed out by the PA Supreme Court. In researching the issue and speaking with those knowledgeable about PIOGA’s request to the Supreme Court, we’ve not found a specific instance where the DEP has denied a permit based on the tossed out Section 3215(b)-(e). But while denying permits based on rejected portions of Act 13 is not taking place, something far more subtle and insidious IS going on–with the same result as if the DEP were denying permits based on tossed-out portions of Act 13. Let us explain…
Read More “More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box”

Please see this MDN follow-up story for an important clarification/update: More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box

This story is why you pay MDN the “big bucks”–to break down complex issues into an easy-to-understand report. Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking for permission to, once again, intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit brought by seven selfish PA townships that resulted in portions of the Act 13 oil and gas drilling law to be struck down. Twice before PIOGA, which represents the companies directly affected by the Act 13 law, has filed to intervene and both times it was (incredibly) prevented from doing so. Apparently the people most affected by a lawsuit don’t have “standing” to defend themselves in PA courts–such is their system of “justice.” At any rate, PIOGA’s third attempt may succeed where the first two attempts failed, and that has the anti-drilling selfish towns, along with the Wolf administration, nervous. Why might PIOGA succeed this time? That’s where it gets complicated. In a nutshell, the zoning portions of the Act 13 law (Section 3304) were not the only sections to be struck down by the PA Supremes…
Read More “PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13”