Litigation

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Court Tells Dimock PA Residents to Share Medical Records
November 10, 2011November 10, 2011

A group of more than 60 residents in the Dimock, PA area sued Cabot Oil & Gas in 2009 claiming they had been exposed to pollution as a result of hydraulic fracturing in the area. The lawsuit wants Cabot to pay for medical monitoring as part of the settlement, but they refused to allow Cabot access to their medical records in order to verify their claims. Last week a court told the claimants if they want Cabot to pay, they will have to share their medical records.

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Clean Air Council Sues EPA, Force Drillers to Reduce Ozone
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

The Pennsylvania anti-drilling group Clean Air Council is suing the federal EPA in an effort to force the EPA to clamp down on Marcellus drillers who the Clean Air Council says are creating too much ozone during drilling.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monroe County | Pennsylvania

Mt Airy PA City Council Sues DRBC to Prevent Fracking
October 26, 2011October 26, 2011

Mt. Airy City Council voted on Oct. 13 to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to prevent the Commission from allowing hydraulic fracturing to move forward in Mt. Airy.

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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance
October 13, 2011March 24, 2012

Cecil Township in Washington County, PA—a suburb of Pittsburgh—recently passed an ordinance changing shale gas drilling from a permitted use to a conditional use, meaning each well drilled would have to be approved by the township on a case by case basis. It requires drillers to do twice the work—once in filing a permit application with the state, and a second time with the local municipality. Range Resources, one of the nation’s largest Marcellus Shale drillers (and with operations in Cecil), has just filed a lawsuit requesting the new ordinance be overturned.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Warren County | Wastewater

Columbus Twp, PA Ban on Injection Wells Rescinded
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

Under threat of a lawsuit, supervisors in Columbus Township (Warren County, PA) reversed their previous ban on the disposal of fracking fluids in two injection wells in the township (see this previous MDN story about the lawsuit).

Injection wells are deep wells used to dispose of fracking fluid from those drillers who do not recycle all of the fracking fluid used in their drilling operations. The fluid is pumped into the wells under high pressure, forcing it deep into the ground. Ohio has hundreds of such injection wells due to a better underground geography. However, PA currently has only a relative handful of injection wells (less than a dozen?), including the two in Columbus Township.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Shale Gas Mineral Rights Case Appealed to PA Supreme Court
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

We have a new development in the ongoing case from Susquehanna County, PA where a lower court upheld the “Dunham rule” declaring oil and gas are not part of mineral rights. The Dunham rule, a PA law precedent that’s been in place since 1882, was challenged by PA Superior Court (see this MDN story), threatening to overturn dozens if not hundreds of leases and deeds in Pennsylvania. The landowners in the case have now appealed directly to the PA State Supreme Court in an effort to lay this to rest and have the Dunham rule upheld.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

Western PA Township Wins Right to Put Ban on Nov. Ballot
October 4, 2011October 4, 2011

Those opposed to drilling will get a measure to ban shale gas drilling put on the ballot in Peters Township (Washington County, PA) this fall. A judge has just ruled in favor of the Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness Group to have the measure put on the election ballot for Nov 8. See this MDN story about the group, their motivation (calling sustainable energy a “right”) and the wording of the ballot measure.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Otsego County | Statewide NY

Middlefield, NY Lawsuit: The Town’s Counterargument
September 27, 2011September 27, 2011

MDN recently reported about two lawsuits filed (so far) in New York State that will set precedent in the state on the issue of whether or not local municipalities (i.e. townships) can ban gas drilling altogether within their borders.

One of those lawsuits, filed against the Town of Middlefield in Otsego County, was filed by landowner Jennifer Huntington (see the MDN story here). Her lawsuit says the town’s ban violates state law which stipulates only the state can regulate oil and gas drilling. The key word there is “regulate.”

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Chief Gathering | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Chief Gathering Counter-Sues 3 Families in Luzerne County, PA
September 23, 2011September 23, 2011

In a country with a proud tradition of free speech and open dissent, there is a line that can be crossed. That line is called libel and slander, and it’s always been a gray area, most often determined by the courts. We have a new case for the courts to decide related to the Marcellus drilling industry in Luzerne County, PA.

But this is not solely a case of slander. The people accused of slandering pipeline company Chief Gathering first filed a lawsuit themselves in an attempt to use the courts to stop the pipeline. So Chief is fighting back with their own lawsuit seeking to a) have the original lawsuit filed against the pipeline overturned, and b) seeking damages for the (according to Chief) slanderous remarks of the people and their attorney. Chief says their reputation in the community has been wrongly damaged.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Is Marcellus Shale a Mineral? An Important Question in PA
September 22, 2011September 22, 2011

A court case in Pennsylvania may have a chilling effect on Marcellus gas drilling in the state even before it’s finally decided. This is a bit complicated, so buckle up! And be sure to read this post if you own land in PA.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

PA Township Sued to Allow Injection Wells for Fracking Fluids
September 20, 2011September 20, 2011

The Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association has filed a lawsuit against Columbus Township in Warren County, PA challenging an ordinance that prohibits disposal of fracking fluids in the township. The fracking fluid ban was passed after the federal EPA approved permits for two underground injection wells to be operated within the township.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Otsego County | Regulation

Second Lawsuit Filed Against NY Town Challenges Drilling Ban
September 19, 2011September 19, 2011

One day after Anschutz Exploration announced it would file a lawsuit against Dryden, NY (Tompkins County) to overturn a local ban on gas drilling in that township (see MDN story here), another lawsuit against another township in New York State has been filed. This new case was filed by landowner and township resident Jennifer Huntington against the Township of Middlefield in Otsego County. This suit, like the one from Anschutz, says the township has passed what amounts to an illegal law targeting the oil and gas industry, an industry that is specifically regulated by the state according to New York State law. The township’s ban infringes Ms. Huntington’s private property rights as a landowner to allow gas drilling on her land. A copy of the lawsuit is embedded below.

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Anschutz Exploration | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Tompkins County

Driller Sues NY Town to Challenge Local Drilling Ban
September 15, 2011September 15, 2011

Anschutz Exploration this week will file a lawsuit against the Town of Dryden (NY) to strike down the town’s recently passed ban on gas drilling. Dryden is a small township with two villages—Dryden and Freeville—located in Tompkins County, near Ithaca. Its land area is 94.2 square miles with some 13,500 people living there.

In New York, the state reserves the right to regulate the oil and gas industry and, according to state law, local municipalities are restricted to regulating road use with respect to oil and gas drilling. Dryden’s measure banning drilling (passed in August) is, according to the drilling industry, illegal. This lawsuit will challenge it.

Dryden officials argue that the state does not and cannot tell a municipality how it can regulate other industries, and the gas industry should be no different. It is a classical constitutional issue and both sides are watching this one closely.

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Allegheny County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

Range Resources Fights PA Town Ordinance, Threatens Lawsuit
August 17, 2011August 17, 2011

Range Resources, one of the largest Marcellus Shale drillers in Pennsylvania, and the first to sink a Marcellus well in the state in 2003, is pushing back against what it calls “death by a thousand paper cuts” – townships imposing their own regulations on drilling that result in a de facto ban on drilling. Range has just filed an appeal with the zoning hearing board in South Fayette (Allegheny County), PA challenging the township’s zoning regulations prohibiting drilling. Range says if the hearing board does not reverse course, it will take the township to court. A copy of Range’s 35-page challenge filed with the hearing board is embedded below.

UPDATE: Also embedded below is a full copy of the drilling ordinance passed by South Fayette Township in 2010. Thank you to MDN reader Josh Whetzel for suggesting we include it with this article.

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia

Morgantown Official Backpedals After Drilling Ban Overturned
August 16, 2011August 16, 2011

It’s always interesting to watch politicians operate after a humiliating defeat. Politicians’ DNA does not allow them to simply look inward and recognize their own errors. They always look outward and blame others, or in some cases, declare the defeat was a good thing and accomplished just what they wanted all along! I refer to the situation in Morgantown, WV. In June, Morgantown City Council members voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and up to one mile outside their borders (see this MDN story). This threatened a pair of Marcellus Shale wells being drilled about a mile from city lines. The result? The driller, Northeast Energy, sued the city. Last week a judge overturned the city’s ban and now hydraulic fracturing will commence (see this MDN story). All told, Northeast probably lost about a month out of their original drilling schedule (they continued drilling anyway, the ban specifically prohibited fracking and not drilling per se).

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia

Judge Overturns Morgantown, WV Fracking Ban
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

For some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (see list of articles here). In a surprise move last Friday, the Monongalia County (WV) Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker overturned Morgantown’s fracking ban, clearing the way for Northeast Energy to continue drilling and fracking operations about a mile outside of Morgantown city lines. Judge Tucker’s “summary judgment” is embedded below.

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