Litigation

Brooke County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | West Virginia

Southwestern Appeals Weirton, WV Zoning Rejection of Well Pad
November 22, 2021November 22, 2021

In early September the Weirton, WV Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a request by Southwestern Energy to build a well pad inside city limits (see Weirton, WV Rejects Southwestern’s Plan for Well Pad in City Limits). Southwestern is appealing that rejection through the Brooke County Circuit Court. Southwestern is also moving forward with a request for a required state-issued permit from the Dept. of Environmental Protection.
Read More “Southwestern Appeals Weirton, WV Zoning Rejection of Well Pad”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Williams

2nd Circuit Drives Final Nail in NY Constitution Pipeline Project Coffin
November 22, 2021November 22, 2021

In February 2020 pipeline giant Williams officially confirmed it was ending its years-long bid to build the Constitution Pipeline, a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England (see Sad Day: Williams Declares Constitution Pipeline Project Dead). Even though Williams declared the project dead, virulent anti-fossil fuelers, afraid that the Constitution may rise again like Dracula from the dead, continued to sue in a bid to drive the very last nail in the coffin of the project, which happened last week.
Read More “2nd Circuit Drives Final Nail in NY Constitution Pipeline Project Coffin”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Seeks to Limit Fed EPA Role in Regulating Power Plant Emissions
November 17, 2021November 17, 2021

A lawsuit filed by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and the attorney generals from 17 other states (18 states in all) will limit the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their misinterpretation of the so-called Clean Air Act in order to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. According to Morrisey, his lawsuit is “the biggest case before the Supreme Court” for the 2022 session. We can tell you this: The left is very nervous about the Supremes accepting this case, appealed from a lower court. They didn’t expect the Supremes to take up the case and some say it doesn’t look good for the EPA.
Read More “WV Seeks to Limit Fed EPA Role in Regulating Power Plant Emissions”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Delaware County (PA) | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

Philly Suburb Appeals Judge’s Order to Turn Over ME2 Pipe Emails
November 16, 2021November 16, 2021

In October the owner of the Glen Riddle Station Apartment complex in Delaware County, PA convinced a county judge to order the release of emails between officials in Middletown Township and Energy Transfer, owner of the Mariner East pipeline system (see Apt. Complex Owner Hopes to Find Dirt in “Secret” ME Pipe Letters). The Glen Riddle apartment complex owner is hoping he can find some minor, obscure statement in the email exchanges to reignite opposition to finishing the third and last Mariner East pipeline that runs across his property. Last Friday Middletown Township appealed the judge’s ruling to PA Commonwealth Court, days after a similar appeal filed by Energy Transfer.
Read More “Philly Suburb Appeals Judge’s Order to Turn Over ME2 Pipe Emails”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PEDF Asks PA Supreme Court to Ban Shale Drilling on State Land
November 15, 2021November 15, 2021

The so-called Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) lost a big court case in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court in August (see Radical Green Group Loses Lawsuit to Block PA State Land Drilling). The radicals, via their frivolous lawsuit, attempted to block any and all new drilling for oil and gas on PA state-owned land. The judges of the Commonwealth Court rejected the ridiculous lawsuit. On Nov. 9 (last Tuesday) the radicals appealed that rejection to the PA Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Supremes (almost all Democrats) have a habit of favoring radicalized groups like PEDF.
Read More “PEDF Asks PA Supreme Court to Ban Shale Drilling on State Land”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Epsilon Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Epsilon 3Q: Production Falls, Revenue Doubles, Lawsuit Continues
November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon issued its third quarter update on Wednesday. The company’s Marcellus net gas production was 2.6 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in total for 3Q21, compared to 3.0 Bcf of net gas production in 3Q20 (a 13% decrease). However, revenues were $13.1 million in 3Q21, compared to $5.8 million in 3Q20 (more than doubled). In addition to the 3Q numbers, we have an update on Epsilon’s lawsuit against its partner Chesapeake Energy.
Read More “Epsilon 3Q: Production Falls, Revenue Doubles, Lawsuit Continues”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Judge Certifies Class Action Against FirstEnergy re Nuke Bailout
November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Ohio’s House Bill (HB) 6 law granted billions (plural) of dollars to FirstEnergy in an attempt to prop up the company’s economically failing nuclear power plants. FirstEnergy bribed state legislators to pass, and keep passed, HB 6 by paying out $61 million to a small group of insiders, including the now-former Speaker of the House (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). It is the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history. HB 6 empowered FirstEnergy to add a new charge to the electric bills for all ratepayers, on the theory subsidizing nuke plants was a good thing because nukes don’t create carbon dioxide emissions (that extra charge has since been overturned). A group of FirstEnergy ratepayers sued after the scandal broke, and a federal judge has just certified a class action against the company.
Read More “Judge Certifies Class Action Against FirstEnergy re Nuke Bailout”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Rockdale | Statewide PA | UGI Energy Services

UGI Sues Rockdale Investors Over “Brazen Scheme” to Break Pipe Contract
November 9, 2021April 20, 2022

In September MDN broke the news that Rockdale Marcellus had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (see NEPA Driller Rockdale Marcellus Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). In October Rockdale filed a lawsuit to break its pipeline contract with UGI (see Rockdale Bankruptcy Gets Messier – Sues UGI to Break Pipe Contract). Last Friday UGI fired back, filing its own lawsuit against Rockdale’s investors claiming their attempt to break the pipeline contract with UGI is a “brazen scheme” to acquire all the assets of Rockdale through a bankruptcy sale and either force UGI to grant them millions of dollars in concessions under the gathering agreement or, alternatively, eliminate the gathering agreement altogether so they can build their own pipeline.
Read More “UGI Sues Rockdale Investors Over “Brazen Scheme” to Break Pipe Contract”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Omni Energy Services | Regulation | Wastewater

ODNR Issues Permits to 2 Belmont Injection Wells to Allow Startup
November 8, 2021November 8, 2021

We have some exciting, and exclusive, news to share with the MDN audience. We previously told you that the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) was behaving like a child, dragging its collective heels to prevent two side-by-side injection wells in Belmont County developed by Omni Energy from beginning operation (see Omni Energy Sues ODNR 2nd Time for Blocking 2 Injection Wells). Omni had to sue the ODNR, for a second time, in Ohio Supreme Court, over ODNR’s refusal to issue the permits and attempts to add new conditions not found in the regulatory code. The good news is that ODNR, under intense pressure, relented and on Friday issued permits for both wells to begin operations.
Read More “ODNR Issues Permits to 2 Belmont Injection Wells to Allow Startup”
Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA
November 8, 2021June 30, 2023

In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natgas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in Allegheny Co. OKs Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant). In June of this year the Allegheny County Health Department’s permitting section held a hearing to discuss potential emissions from the plant (see Proposed Gas-Fired Plant Near Pittsburgh has Neighbors “Fired Up”). The Health Department subsequently issued the necessary air permit. A mish-mash of Big Green groups has just sued to block that air permit.
Read More “Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

THE Delaware Riverkeeper Continues to Sue Dead PennEast Pipe
November 8, 2021April 20, 2022

PennEast Pipeline, a 120-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that would have cost $1 billion to build and run from Dallas, Luzerne County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, and terminate at Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington, Mercer County, New Jersey, is as dead as a doornail (see PennEast Pipeline Throws in the Towel – Project Won’t Get Built). In late September the partners in the project announced “PennEast has ceased all further development of the Project.” And yet THE (deluded) Delaware Riverkeeper is convinced PennEast will rise from the dead like Jesus Christ. So Riverkeeper is suing to keep on suing–to keep PennEast dead and buried. We’ll explain.
Read More “THE Delaware Riverkeeper Continues to Sue Dead PennEast Pipe”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines

Budweiser Beer Warns of Dire Consequences if Spire STL Pipe Closes
November 3, 2021November 3, 2021

Budweiser production and shipments may be affected by Spire STL pipeline outage

You can add a shortage of Budweiser Beer to the list of dire consequences if the Spire STL pipeline in the St. Louis region shuts down permanently one month from now due to a lawsuit brought by the uber-left radicals of the Environmental Defense Fund. Spire STL is a 65-mile pipeline that connects to and flows Marcellus/Utica gas from the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline to residents and businesses in the St. Louis, MO area. Parent company Spire has been warning (for months) of extreme consequences, including no heat and potential death for some residents, if natgas supplies on the pipeline are forced to stop. Now businesses in the region, including Anheuser-Busch, are adding their very loud voice to Spire’s voice.
Read More “Budweiser Beer Warns of Dire Consequences if Spire STL Pipe Closes”
Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation

Radical Green Groups Challenge MVP in 4th Circus Court – Again
November 2, 2021November 2, 2021

MVP Route (click for larger version)

Here we go again. Early this year the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) issued a permit to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to run through 3.5 miles of woodlands, and under the Appalachian Trail, in the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County in West Virginia, in and Giles and Montgomery counties in Virginia (see US Forest Service Issues Approval for MVP Thru Jefferson Forest). Not long after, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) endorsed USFS’s plan by issuing a right-of-way grant and its own permit to MVP, saying pipeline construction along the path won’t kill too many bats and other critters (see BLM Approves MVP Request to Build in Jefferson Natl Forest). It didn’t take long for radicalized groups including the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, and Wild Virginia to sue.
Read More “Radical Green Groups Challenge MVP in 4th Circus Court – Again”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case Limiting EPA Regulation of CO2
November 1, 2021November 1, 2021

One of the main strategies of the Bidenistas to control every aspect of your life is to control exactly which kind of energy you can and can’t use. Part of their plan is to eliminate the use of fossil fuels by using the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their misinterpretation of the so-called Clean Air Act in order to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. CO2 is the stuff you breathe out with every breath you take. The left claims CO2 is “pollution” (causes global warming, dontchaknow) and can be controlled at the federal level by the EPA. If the EPA gets away with declaring CO2 as pollution, it can regulate and even ban the use of substances like natural gas and oil that produce CO2 when burned–or better yet, slap a big tax on it.
Read More “U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Case Limiting EPA Regulation of CO2”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monroe County | Mountaineer NGL Storage | NGLs | Ohio

Antis File Lawsuit Challenging Ohio NGL/H2 Storage Hub Permits
October 29, 2021October 29, 2021

Earlier this month MDN exclusively broke the news that earlier this year (slipping under the radar) the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued permits to Powhatan Salt Company/Mountaineer NGL Storage for three planned solution mining wells in Monroe County (see OH Issues Permits to Build Salt Caverns for Mountaineer NGL/H2 Storage). The three salt caverns will store NGLs (natural gas liquids, mainly ethane) to potentially be used by ethane crackers including the Shell cracker near Pittsburgh and potentially a second ethane cracker proposed by PTT Global Chemical in Belmont County. The salt caverns can also be used to store hydrogen (H2). Virulent anti-fossil fuel groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the ODNR permits.
Read More “Antis File Lawsuit Challenging Ohio NGL/H2 Storage Hub Permits”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines

Arbitrator Rules EQT Does NOT Have Right to Buy Hammerhead Pipe
October 27, 2021October 27, 2021

Equitrans Midstream, owner of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and a related gathering pipeline called Hammerhead designed to feed 1.6 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica gas into MVP, says an arbitration panel ruled in its favor in a dispute with EQT Corp. over the delayed startup of Hammerhead. According to an 8-K filing, Equitrans said the three-member arbitration panel ruled that the in-service delay beyond October 1, 2020, for Hammerhead was caused by a force majeure, so EQT has no early termination right under the Hammerhead gathering agreement or related right to purchase the Hammerhead project.
Read More “Arbitrator Rules EQT Does NOT Have Right to Buy Hammerhead Pipe”