Litigation

Crime | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Youngstown Protesters Get Light Treatment in Local Court
December 16, 2013December 16, 2013

Two ~~nutjobs~~ protesters were arrested last month for blocking trucks from accessing an injection well facility in Niles (Trumbull County), Ohio–near Youngstown (see 2 Anti-Drillers Arrested at Youngstown Injection Well). We now know their names: John D. Williams, 57, of North Cleveland Avenue, Niles, and Mary C. Khumprakob, 21, of Glacier Heights Road, Youngstown.

On Friday they both pleaded no-contest, meaning “guilty,” in Niles Municipal Court, and the judge, Thomas Townley, gave them the equivalent of a love tap on the wrist–a $50 fine and $137 in court costs. Seems it’s pretty cheap to shut down a legal, legitimate business in Niles…
Read More “Youngstown Protesters Get Light Treatment in Local Court”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Did Range Resources Cover-Up Spill at Well Site in PA?
December 13, 2013December 13, 2013

Here we go again. A lawsuit has been filed against Range Resources in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA by a group of neighbors close to the Yeager well drilled by Range with claims that they were “sickened” (no word on how) by drilling at the well site. The big news is that there was an alleged spill at the drill site in 2010 (three years ago!) and that the spill was “covered up” and not properly reported by Range. A juicy rumor like that is all PA Rep. Jesse “fake online ID” White needed to demand that state Attorney General Kathleen Kane (an anti-driller) and a host of other government officials should investigate this forthwith. Jesse, you may recall, was caught red-handed using fake online IDs to impersonate and slander his own pro-drilling constituents. He still hasn’t had the decency to resign and the Democrat Party in PA hasn’t had the decency to remove him from office. A new low in PA politics.

Here’s the rumor about a three year-old spill that may or may not have happened and the dreaded cover-up by the evil villain, ~~Snidely Whiplash~~ Range Resources (sarcasm intended):
Read More “Did Range Resources Cover-Up Spill at Well Site in PA?”
Air Quality | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Washington County

MarkWest Chartiers Twp Plant Sued for “Trespassing” on Air Space
December 12, 2013December 11, 2013

Two couples with the same last name and who both live near the MarkWest gas processing plant in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA are suing MarkWest claiming the plant is causing air pollution and is “trespassing” on their air space. MDN has chronicled problems at the plant in the past (see MarkWest Served Violation Notice for Chartiers Processing Plant).

Both couples, with the last name Sethman, report a variety of physical ailments they claim are caused by air pollution from the plant…
Read More “MarkWest Chartiers Twp Plant Sued for “Trespassing” on Air Space”
Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Mercer County | Pennsylvania

Mercer County Landowners Suing Halcon Get Small Victory
December 12, 2013December 11, 2013

Last fall Halcon Resources signed letters of intent with landowners in Mercer County, PA to lease some 60,000 acres for drilling, via CX Energy (Co-eXprise). In September 2012 Halcon called a meeting with landowners and told them they would only proceed with leasing about half of the acreage (see Halcon Says No Drilling for Half of Mercer County Landowners). Needless to say the half that were jilted didn’t take it well. In fact, they felt defrauded by Halcon and filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Halcon.

The U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit has just passed the case (“remanded” it) back to a Pennsylvania trial court, which is a small victory for the landowners. How so? Well, it’s complicated, but we’ll do our best to explain it…
Read More “Mercer County Landowners Suing Halcon Get Small Victory”
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NGLs | Pipelines | Regulation | Williams

Bluegrass NGL Pipeline’s Eminent Domain Challenged in KY Court
December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

A small but dedicated group of anti-drillers in Kentucky continue to oppose plans by Williams and Boardwalk Partners to build the Bluegrass natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline through their state. The Bluegrass will stretch from the Marcellus/Utica all the way to the Gulf Coast. MDN estimates it will cost at least $1.5 billion to build it (see 2013 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook – Volume 2). We told you about previous efforts to stop the pipeline in, ironically, the Bluegrass state–Kentucky (see Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Encounters Resistance from Some in KY and Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Hits Brick Wall in the Bluegrass State). We even told you about God getting involved (see Thank God the Bluegrass Pipeline will Bypass Marion County Nuns).

Looks like the anti-drillers have not given up. A new group with the cutsie name KURE (Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain) has formed to oppose the pipeline. Their strategy is to deny the Bluegrass the right to use eminent domain to lay pipeline under property where landowners don’t want it. KURE filed a lawsuit yesterday in Franklin Circuit Court (Frankfort, KY) questioning the legality of eminent domain for the Bluegrass…
Read More “Bluegrass NGL Pipeline’s Eminent Domain Challenged in KY Court”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Preston County | West Virginia

Developments in WV Lawsuit to Rescind $5/Acre Leases
December 4, 2013December 4, 2013

Way back in March MDN told you about a lawsuit filed by landowners in Preston County, WV. They sued Magnum Land Services and Belmont Resources LLC to have leases they were snookered into signing for as little as $5 per acres rescinded on the basis of fraud and a variety of other legal claims (see Update on WV Lawsuit to Rescind $5/Acre Leases). There’s been a major development in the case.

U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley has dismissed charges against 19 employees from Magnum and Belmont because the paperwork was not timely. She also dismissed half the counts brought by the landowners against the companies. Plus, we now have a date for a trial: October 2014. Justice delayed…
Read More “Developments in WV Lawsuit to Rescind $5/Acre Leases”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon
December 3, 2013December 2, 2013

Yesterday Tom West, lead attorney with The West Firm in Albany, NY, issued a “demand” letter to Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens (full copy of the letter embedded below). The hand-delivered letter (arrived around 12:30 pm we’re told) tells Martens that, as MDN revealed last week, The West Firm has been retained as legal counsel for Norse Energy (see Norse Energy Suing NY Gov Cuomo to Force Release of SGEIS). The letter asks (actually demands) that Martens inform West within the next two weeks of the “date certain in the near future” he plans to release the SGEIS drilling regulations…or else.

The “or else” is not spelled out in the demand letter, but we know what it is: If Martens does not release the drilling rules promptly, West will file an Article 78 lawsuit to force Martens–and Gov. Cuomo and Health Commissioner Nirav Shah–to get off their rear-ends and just do their jobs. That’s what an Article 78 is–a citizen or company’s legal way of forcing recalcitrant and disobedient public servants (Martens, Cuomo and Shah) to do the job they were hired to do. So three cheers for Norse Energy and Tom West! Finally we should start to see a resolution to the 5 year, 4 month and 10 day old defacto ban (i.e. “moratorium”) on shale drilling in New York…
Read More “Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

OH Court Tells ODNR: Turn Over Emails in Patriot Water Lawsuit
November 27, 2013November 27, 2013

Patriot Water Treatment of Warren, OH has had a long-running feud with the Ohio EPA and Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR)–a feud that goes all the way back to 2011 (see MDN’s string of Patriot Water stories here). Patriot processes frack wastewater at it’s Warren plant and then disposes of the wastewater by using the local Warren municipal sewage treatment plant. That is, Patriot strips out all of the really nasty stuff, and then the sewage plant finishes off the process and the water is then released into the Mahoning River, near Youngstown.

The OH EPA and ODNR pulled Patriot’s permits to operate for a four-month period in 2012, but Patriot sued and won the right to continue operating (and sending their wastewater to the sewage plant). In relation to the shut-down, Patriot is suing for damages and the ODNR has not been altogether forthcoming with emails and paperwork requested by Patriot as part of the lawsuit. So the OH District Court of Appeals told the ODNR yesterday to comply, or else…
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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

PA DEP Consent Decree Against Waste Treatment’s Warren Plant
November 26, 2013November 26, 2013

A month ago MDN told you a lawsuit had been filed by anti-drilling Clean Water Action (CWA) against the municipal sewage treatment plant in Warren, PA operated by Waste Treatment Corporation. The lawsuit claimed the Warren plant, based on testing of the Allegheny River, continues to process and dump treated frack wastewater into the river (see CWA Sues/Accuses Waste Treatment Corp of Continued Shale Pollution). A day after that story broke, both Waste Treatment and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection responded and said that no, the plant does not and has not treated shale frack wastewater since 2011 (see Waste Treatment, PA DEP Respond to CWA Lawsuit).

However, as we said at the time, the fact that the DEP had also (quietly) filed their own lawsuit against Waste Treatment raises more questions than it answers. We now begin to get some of those answers. Yesterday, the DEP announced a “Proposed Consent Decree” with Waste Treatment that will reduce the amount of total dissolved solids it releases into the Allegheny River. The (important) question remains: If the effluent from the Warren plant is not coming from processing shale fracking wastewater, where is it coming from? What is the source of this super-salty wastewater that’s being processed by this plant?…
Read More “PA DEP Consent Decree Against Waste Treatment’s Warren Plant”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

Norse Energy Suing NY Gov Cuomo to Force Release of SGEIS
November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

This is BIG news: It seems we haven’t heard the last from Norse Energy–the Norwegian-based driller that just over a month ago converted from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, or “keep the creditors at bay while we reorganize,” to Chapter 7, or “sell off the furniture and turn off the lights” (see Lights Turned Off, Door Closed – Good Night, Norse Energy). There’s still a bit of fight left in Norse–or fight left in its creditors anyway. Late last week MDN received a tip from friend and intrepid blogger Andy Leahy, writer of the excellent NY Shale Gas Now! blog, about some of the biggest New York news we’ve heard in some time: Norse Energy, or what’s left of it, has decided to file a lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens, and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah–a lawsuit that will force the release of draft drilling regulations called the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement).

The official lawsuit has not yet been filed but according to MDN’s sources, it will be filed in early December. This story is a bit complicated, so we’ll break it down for you and show you the evidence we have that a lawsuit against the Cuomo/Martens/Shah cabal is indeed on the way–very soon…
Read More “Norse Energy Suing NY Gov Cuomo to Force Release of SGEIS”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Buys Second Dimock, PA Property on Carter Road
November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

Contrary to the desires of Josh Fox and other anti-drillers, the “Dimock” story continues to fade away into obscure history. A month ago MDN told you about the former house of some of the loudest Cabot critics who used to live in Dimock, PA–the Sautners. Craig and Julie Sautner sold their house and 3.6 acres to Cabot last year and snuk out of town with $167,500 (see Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock). Last month, the old Sautner house was leveled and the property was sold to the neighbor for a measly $4,000 (see End of an Era? Sautner’s Dimock Home Leveled, Property Sold).

Another Dimock property has just been sold to Cabot, albeit for not quite as much. Mike Ely sold his 12-acre property on Carter Road (including double-wide trailer) to Cabot for $140,000…
Read More “Cabot Buys Second Dimock, PA Property on Carter Road”
Energy Companies | Forced Pooling | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Utica Shale

Ironic: PA Enviro Court Forcing DEP to Rule on Forced Pooling
November 21, 2013November 21, 2013

A 51-year old forced pooling law in Pennsylvania that strangely does not apply to the Marcellus Shale layer, but does apply to the deeper Utica Shale layer, is being put to the test. In early October, MDN told you that Hilcorp had decided to take “the low road” and sue a landowner in Lawrence County, PA to force that landowner to allow his 14.6 acres to be drilled under using the old law (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner).

The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection balked at invoking the old law to force the landowner and instead tossed this hot potato to the Environmental Hearing Board. The Hearing Board ruled this week that it doesn’t have jurisdiction and that the matter properly does belong back at the DEP. So what will the DEP do now?…
Read More “Ironic: PA Enviro Court Forcing DEP to Rule on Forced Pooling”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY Landowner Lawsuit Against NY & Gov. Cuomo Ready to Go
November 14, 2013November 14, 2013

MDN recently received an email update from the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY)–posted below. The JLCNY reports their “takings” lawsuit against New York State, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah is now ready to go. Cuomo, Martens and Shah together form a cabal working against NY landowners by intentionally denying them their 5th Amendment Constitutional private property rights without just compensation. The JLCNY is ready to expose the cabal by filing this case.

According to JLCNY President, Dan Fitzsimmons, the legal team spent over 300 hours preparing the necessary court documentation, called a “complaint” in legalese (we’ve embedded a copy of the complaint below). The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of six New York landowners. The landowners are not (yet) named in the complaint, but if you read the complaint, you’ll see each one is uniquely identified–these are real people that are ready to go to court…
Read More “JLCNY Landowner Lawsuit Against NY & Gov. Cuomo Ready to Go”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

OH Energy Co Sues 2 Anti-Drillers for Defamation – and Wins!
November 12, 2013November 12, 2013

Finally! An energy-related company in the Utica Shale with a backbone. A couple of anti-drillers thought they would get away with defaming the good name of Duck Creek Energy, a company that manufactures a road deicer and dust suppressant from processed brine water produced from oil and gas wells. Brine is not frack wastewater but naturally occurring water from the depths that has a lot of minerals it (saltier than sea water). Brine comes out long after frack wastewater has been removed. When processed, brine is perfectly safe and can be used for productive things like deicer and dust suppression on roadways. Duck Creek Energy has been manufacturing their deicer for 10 years now.

The defaming anti-drillers claimed the substance being sold by Duck Energy was leftover frack wastewater and contained dangerous chemicals and radiation. Duck Creek Energy sued them and won, shutting them up from telling the outrageous lies they had been spinning…
Read More “OH Energy Co Sues 2 Anti-Drillers for Defamation – and Wins!”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

PA Judge Forces Range, Contractors to Provide Chemical List
November 6, 2013November 6, 2013

Three families who live near a drill site/frack wastewater impoundment (“pond”) in Cecil Township, PA have a long-running (since May 2012) lawsuit against Range Resources claiming Range’s drilling and wastewater impoundment has contaminated their well water. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated and found no contamination. Even the federal EPA looked at it last year and never filed any violation notices–meaning they didn’t find anything either (see EPA Investigating Range Drill Site in Western PA).

However, the families maintain they have been harmed by toxic chemicals used during drilling, and so a judge has ordered Range and all of their subcontractors to provide a list of every conceivable chemical compound used at the site since 2009–right down to the kind of oil used in the engines of vehicles visiting the site–and she’s giving them 30 days to do it…
Read More “PA Judge Forces Range, Contractors to Provide Chemical List”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | XTO

PA AG Pressures Judge to Step Aside in XTO Spill Case
November 5, 2013November 5, 2013

A quick update on the political persecution being shamefully conducted by Pennsylvania’s new Attorney General Kathleen Kane against XTO Energy (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Kane is attempting to turn a 3 year-old accidental spill into a criminal case–beyond imagination.

Kane continues to abuse her power. She has pressured the judge who would have heard the XTO case to recuse himself because he has a share/interest in a gas lease. The judge’s lease is not with XTO, but that’s not good enough for anti-drilling Kane. She wanted him gone–so he’s gone…
Read More “PA AG Pressures Judge to Step Aside in XTO Spill Case”