Litigation

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”
Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Franklin County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Virginia

MVP Pays Franklin County, VA Landowners to Settle Erosion Lawsuit
October 26, 2021October 26, 2021

Another MVP (Mountain Valley Pipeline) story in the news today. In August 2018 MDN told you about a group of six Franklin County, VA landowners who sued to block the construction of MVP across their property (see Franklin County, VA Landowners Lose Round #1 to Stop MV Pipe). The landowners sought an immediate stop to construction because of damaged caused to their property from soil erosion and runoff following a big rainstorm. At that time, the judge denied the request, but the underlying lawsuit against MVP for causing damage continued on. That underlying lawsuit is now resolved.
Read More “MVP Pays Franklin County, VA Landowners to Settle Erosion Lawsuit”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation

Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits
October 25, 2021October 25, 2021

In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executive Order Making it Harder to Block Pipes). In keeping with the EO, the EPA issued a draft new rule in August 2019 tightening up standards used in Section 401, creating new boundaries so states like New York and Washington can’t continue to “color outside the lines” by rejecting pipelines for political reasons, as they have both done (see EPA Issues Proposed New Rule for Section 401 Water Permit). A final version of the new rule was eventually adopted. Extreme leftist group THE Delaware Riverkeeper along with a variety of foreign-financed groups promptly filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule (see Riverkeeper Lawsuit Challenges Trump Changes to Water Permits). Last week a San Francisco Democrat judge appointed by Bill Clinton vacated the Trump EPA modification. Politics once again triumphed over science and common sense.
Read More “Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Omni Energy Services | Regulation | Wastewater

Omni Energy Sues ODNR 2nd Time for Blocking 2 Injection Wells
October 20, 2021October 20, 2021

For whatever reason, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is behaving like a child with its heels dug in, refusing to do what it’s supposed to do. In July 2019 MDN told you about New Jersey-based Omni Energy Group and their application to build two new injection wells near St. Clairsville (see Belmont County Injection Well Plan Stirs Opposition from Coal Co.). ODNR refused to do its regulatory duty to rule on permits to build the wells. Omni took ODNR’s dereliction of duty to the Ohio Supreme Court and in December 2020 the Supremes told ODNR to get off the pot and do something (see OH Supreme Court Forces ODNR to Advance 2 Injection Well Permits).
Read More “Omni Energy Sues ODNR 2nd Time for Blocking 2 Injection Wells”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Rockdale | UGI Energy Services

Rockdale Bankruptcy Gets Messier – Sues UGI to Break Pipe Contract
October 20, 2021October 20, 2021

Yesterday we told you about a recent bankruptcy hearing for Pennsylvania shale driller Rockdale Marcellus, a hearing in which UGI Energy Services sought to gain access to details about Rockdale’s assets that are now up for sale (see Rockdale Marcellus Bankruptcy Hearing Erupts with Controversy). The controversy has grown. Rockdale filed a lawsuit to break its legally binding pipeline gathering contract with UGI, a pipeline system UGI spent over $80 million to build.
Read More “Rockdale Bankruptcy Gets Messier – Sues UGI to Break Pipe Contract”