Litigation

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Big Green Fumes as PA Refuses to Stop State Forest Shale Drilling
August 31, 2020August 31, 2020

In June 2017, the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) won a case at the PA Supreme Court by the skin of their teeth (see PA Supreme Court Hands Antis Partial Victory re State Land Drilling). The case dealt with the issue of how PA can spend revenue raised from drilling for oil and gas under state-owned land. A divided court ruled that money from royalties (not lease signing bonuses) must be used only for “environmental” purposes. Since that time the governor and the legislature have ignored the ruling and interpreted it to mean money can be used to (for instance) fund operating expenses of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), something PEDF claims is not allowed. Ignoring the ruling year after year has the radicals at PEDF fuming.
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Allegheny County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania

Marcellus E-Fracking Company Evolution Well Sued for Overtime
August 28, 2020August 28, 2020

Evolution Well Services, headquartered in Houston with a regional office in Pittsburgh, specializes in “electric” fracking–using natural gas from the well pad (instead of diesel fuel) to power turbines to create electricity that drives fracking pumps. Evolution fracks for at least one Marcellus/Utica E&P (see Another Marcellus Driller Converts to Electric Fracking). Earlier this week an Evolution worker filed a lawsuit against Evolution in Allegheny County court claiming the company owes him (and others, if he can turn it into a class action) back pay for overtime the company forced them to work.
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Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monroe County | Mountaineer NGL Storage | NGLs | Ohio | Statewide OH

Colluding Big Green Groups Sue to Stop Ohio NGL Storage Hub
August 25, 2020August 25, 2020

A group of far-left, so-called environmental groups, including, Earthjustice, Buckeye Environmental Network, Concerned Ohio River Residents, Freshwater Accountability Project, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the Sierra Club, are suing the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in an attempt to overturn permits issued by ODNR to build an underground NGL storage hub in Monroe County, Ohio.
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Chester County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Appeals PA DEP Shut Down of ME2 Construction in Chester
August 25, 2020August 25, 2020

While drilling in Chester County in the Marsh Creek State Park two weeks ago, Energy Transfer’s Mariner East 2X pipeline experienced an “inadvertent return”–nontoxic drilling mud coming up out of the ground where it’s not supposed to (see Mariner East 2X Construction Causes Another Drilling Mud Spill). In this case, the mud came up in a small section of the 535-acre Marsh Creek Lake. A few days later the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) indefinitely suspended all drilling in that area (see PA DEP Suspends ME2 Pipe Drilling at Marsh Creek State Park). Energy Transfer is appealing the DEP’s suspension saying if they can’t restart soon, the hole already drilled will fill in and ultimately lead to even more environmental impacts than a little spilled mud.
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Trucking

Trucking Company Sues EQT for Racial Bias, Canceled $66M Contract
August 20, 2020August 20, 2020

Pittsburgh-based IntegrServ, a trucking company partly owned by former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis, filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against EQT claiming discrimination against the company as a minority-owned company after it canceled a contract worth some $66 million last year. This is an involved story and of course, there are always two sides to every story (and two sides to every lawsuit).
Read More “Trucking Company Sues EQT for Racial Bias, Canceled $66M Contract”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio AG Asks Court to Stop Payments to FirstEnergy Nuke Plants
August 20, 2020August 20, 2020

FirstEnergy Solutions (now called Energy Harbor) allegedly paid $60 million in bribes to (now former) Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four of his associates to gain their assistance in passing the hugely unpopular House Bill 6 (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). HB 6, which became law, gives Energy Harbor $1.1 billion in ratepayer funds over seven years to prop up the company’s uneconomic nuclear power plants (disadvantaging other energy sources, like gas-fired power plants). Ohio’s Attorney General is asking a bankruptcy court to stop those annual $150 million payments.
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CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Litigation

14 AGs Join Radical Green Groups Suing to Block LNG by Rail
August 19, 2020August 19, 2020

In June the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published final rules to allow LNG (liquefied natural gas) to be safely transported by special rail cars (see PHMSA and Fed Railroad Admin Publish Final LNG by Rail Regs). Anti-fossil fuel zealots hate fossil fuels, including natural gas, so much, they have launched two lawsuits to prevent the new “LNG by rail” rules from taking effect. One lawsuit was filed by 14 Democrat state attorneys general, including PA AG Josh Shapiro. A second lawsuit was filed by six anti-American Big Green groups–including Earthjustice, Sierra Club, and THE Delaware Riverkeeper.
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Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Construction Co. Sues MVP for $104M, Demands Sale of Pipe
August 18, 2020April 20, 2022

Last December MDN brought you news that Equitrans had canceled a contract with Trinity Energy Services to build a portion of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project (see Equitrans Cancels Trinity Energy Contract re Mountain Valley Pipe). Since that time talks have broken down between the two sides over compensation for change orders and other items, and now Trinity is suing Equitrans, demanding MVP sell the pipe in the ground to pay Trinity $103.8 million to satisfy the money Trinity says it is owed.
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Law Firm Files Class Action Against Cabot Claiming Securities Fraud
August 14, 2020August 14, 2020

In June MDN told you that a New York City law firm was “investigating” Cabot Oil & Gas with an eye to filing a class action lawsuit, on behalf of investors, over false allegations made by the Pennsylvania Attorney General who had filed felony charges against Cabot regarding a long-closed regulatory issue in Dimock, PA (see Law Firm Targets Cabot for Class Action Claiming Securities Fraud). The investigation is now over and the law firm found an investor to file a class lawsuit, which was filed yesterday in a federal court in Texas.
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CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Maryland | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD | Trucking

Mountaineer Gas Seeks Truck Alternative to Blocked Maryland Pipe
August 13, 2020August 13, 2020

Anti-fossil fuelers are on a holy mission to stop a 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being built under the Potomac River by Columbia Gas (see Maryland Antis Oppose 13th Pipeline Under Potomac as “Dangerous”). The pipeline, from Maryland on one side of the river to West Virginia on the other side, will be built to feed a larger pipeline project from Mountaineer Gas called the Eastern Panhandle Expansion. Mountaineer Gas is getting desperate for more gas to feed growing customer demand.
Read More “Mountaineer Gas Seeks Truck Alternative to Blocked Maryland Pipe”
Crime | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Not Guilty Pleas in FirstEnergy Nuke Bailout Bribery Scandal
August 12, 2020August 12, 2020

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder

FirstEnergy Solutions (now called Energy Harbor) allegedly paid $60 million in bribes to (now former) Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four of his associates to gain their assistance in passing the hugely unpopular House Bill 6 (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). HB 6, which became law, gives Energy Harbor $1.1 billion in ratepayer funds to prop up the company’s uneconomic nuclear power plants (disadvantaging other energy sources, like gas-fired power plants). Four of the five defendants have just entered pleas–all of them “not guilty.”
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Ashtabula County | Energy Services | Erie County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | RH energytrans

Contractor Sues Risberg PA-to-OH Pipeline for Nonpayment $35M
August 11, 2020August 11, 2020

click for larger version

In March 2019 MDN brought you the news that Wood Group had been awarded a $34 million contract to build 28 miles of the 60-mile Risberg Pipeline from Crawford County, PA to Ashtabula County, OH (see Wood Wins $34M Contract to Build PA to OH Risberg Pipeline). The portion Wood built was new “greenfield” pipeline. The rest of the pipeline (32 miles) already existed and was repurposed.
Read More “Contractor Sues Risberg PA-to-OH Pipeline for Nonpayment $35M”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Litigation | New York | Steuben County

Sierra Club Loses Court Case to Block Drill Cuttings in NY Landfill
August 6, 2020August 6, 2020

In February MDN told you about an effort by the radicalized Sierra Club to block a New York landfill from accepting drill cuttings from the Pennsylvania Marcellus (see Antis Fabricate Data in Attempt to Block NY Landfill Expansion). The Clubbers fabricated (made up, lied about) data, trying to use this new made-up data in a court case aimed at stopping the C&D Hakes Landfill in Painted Post, NY (near Elmira, located in Steuben County) from accepting PA drill cuttings. The judge has just ruled in the case–against the Clubbers.
Read More “Sierra Club Loses Court Case to Block Drill Cuttings in NY Landfill”
Accidents | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Litigation | Pipelines

Third Lawsuit Filed Against Enbridge for KY TETCO Pipe Explosion
August 5, 2020August 5, 2020

On August 1, 2019, Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Pipeline Company (TETCO) pipeline exploded in Lincoln County, Kentucky–killing one and sending six to the hospital (see TETCO Pipe Explodes in Kentucky Killing 1; Southbound M-U Gas Stops). In September we reported that at least two lawsuits had been filed against Enbridge and TETCO–one for wrongful death, the other by a couple severely injured and burned following the incident (see Two Lawsuits Filed Against Enbridge for KY TETCO Pipe Explosion). A third lawsuit, on behalf of 80 people “affected by the blast,” has just been filed by a personal injury lawyer now a year after the accident.
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Virginia

Wealthy Va. Landowners Consider Next Moves Post-ACP Cancellation
July 30, 2020July 30, 2020

Earlier this month Dominion Energy announced it is throwing in the towel and canceling the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project that would have stretched from West Virginia to North Carolina. The company also announced it is selling its pipeline business to Warren Buffett (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). Uppity, wealthy Virginia landowners who didn’t want the pipeline buried under their horse pastures are still celebrating. Now that the hangovers have mostly cleared up, the uppity landowners are asking questions about what comes next. Can they sue Dominion to recoup legal costs in fighting the project? Can the legally-obtained easements against their properties for ACP be sold to someone else who wants to build a different pipeline?
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Washington County

Another Outrage: PA AG Charges NFG with Crimes for Pipe Accident
July 23, 2020July 30, 2020

This absolutely must stop. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is completely out of control and abusing his power as AG. He has charged a third Marcellus/Utica company, National Fuel Gas Company, with crimes because of a few minor cases of erosion runoff during the installation of a pipeline in Washington County, PA. Since when is erosion a CRIME?
Read More “Another Outrage: PA AG Charges NFG with Crimes for Pipe Accident”