Litigation

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    Fed Judge Tosses Lancaster Nuns’ Freedom of Religion Lawsuit re ASP

    A group of Catholic nuns in Lancaster County called Adorers of the Blood of Christ have tried several strategies to derail the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline (ASP) project. One of stunts they have pulled, in league with a radical Big Green group, is to stick a few wooden park benches in the middle of a corn field that they own (leased to a local farmer), and call it a “chapel” (see Catholic Nuns Use Radicals to Build Chapel in Path of PA Pipeline). Which is why MDN dubbed them, Sisters of the Corn. The heck of it is that the good Sisters use natural gas to heat an old folks home they operate at the same address! Talk about religious hypocrisy. The Sisters used the chapel-in-the-corn as an excuse to sue the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over their approval of Atlantic Sunrise on the grounds that running the pipeline through their corn field violates their religious freedom (see Lancaster Nuns Sue FERC to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline). Yesterday a federal judge in Reading, PA dismissed the frivolous lawsuit brought by the Sisters of the Corn…
    Read More “Fed Judge Tosses Lancaster Nuns’ Freedom of Religion Lawsuit re ASP”

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    OH Landowner Wants High Court to Force Driller to Explore Shale

    Back in March MDN told you about an Ohio landowner with an old oil and gas lease where a conventional (vertical only) well was drilled–and still producing–suing the energy company, telling the company to either explore the shale layer, or severe the lease rights to shale so the landowner can lease it to someone who will go after the shale (see OH Supreme Court to Hear Appeal re Driller Who Won’t Explore Utica). The case went to the Ohio Supreme Court and on Tuesday the high court heard oral arguments. Can we divine which way the court may rule, based on comments by the justices? Perhaps…
    Read More “OH Landowner Wants High Court to Force Driller to Explore Shale”

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    Broome Virtual Pipe Project in Limbo, Fenton Board Refuses to Act

    In early September, a Broome County, NY judge ruled that the Town of Fenton (Binghamton area) Planning Board did not take a hard enough look at environmental and traffic issues related to their approval of NG Advantage’s plan to construct a facility in the town to compress and load natural gas onto tractor trailers for delivery to regional customers who desperately need the gas–what is called a “virtual pipeline” (see Judge Rules Against Broome Virtual Pipe, NG Advantage to Try Again). The lawsuit was brought by a local school district, which a Freedom of Information Act request reveals is paying approximately $40,000 in legal fees to high-priced lawyers to win the case, stopping the project (we hope Chenango Valley School District taxpapers appreciate their taxes going up to pay for it, and less money available in the budget to “educate” their precious children). NG must now resubmit the project for approval. On Tuesday night, NG did just that–re-applying to the Fenton Town Planning Board. A meeting was held at the local fire hall where some 250 people showed up. The crowd contained those both for and against the project. Unfortunately two of the seven Planning Board members were not present–possibly having resigned due to extreme pressure from bullying antis. So then there were five. Three of the five voted to become the lead agency to review the project, which is the first step in the process. However, three of seven is not a majority. Which puts the project in limbo, not able to go forward. What happens next?…
    Read More “Broome Virtual Pipe Project in Limbo, Fenton Board Refuses to Act”

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    2 Dimock Families Suing Cabot O&G Settle Out of Court

    Some big news that both Cabot Oil & Gas and the two families suing them seem to want to keep quiet: they’ve settled out of court. Brief background for those new to MDN and to the “Dimock” story: There were 14 families along the Carter Road area of Dimock Township, PA (Susquehanna County) that reportedly experienced turbidity in their water from methane migrating, supposedly from Cabot’s drilling operations nearby. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated in 2010 and declared Cabot guilty and imposed stiff fines and requirements, including a requirement to install permanent water treatment systems at each home and even an offer to each of the families to pay twice what their property was worth at the time (see PA DEP Takes Aggressive Action Against Cabot Oil & Gas over Dimock Township Methane Contamination). We won’t recount all of the twists and turns we documented over the years, including research that showed Cabot wasn’t responsible for the methane migration. All of the 14 properties either sold to Cabot or got their water systems repaired–except for two holdout families who were riding the horse of hope that they could sue Cabot for big money and retire millionaires. For a time, it appeared their plan worked. Last year, in March 2016, a trial took place in Scranton. It was a sham trial, with the lawyer for the two families engaging in borderline unethical practices in the courtroom in her attempt to influence the jury. One of the two families admitted, under oath on the witness stand, that their water had too much methane in it BEFORE Cabot Oil & Gas began to drill nearby. The same family, the Elys, later built a 22-room, $1 million mansion on the same property AFTER they admit there was trouble with the water. And yet the jury found Cabot at fault and awarded the Elys $2.75 million. The other family suing Cabot got $1.49 million (see Dimock Jury Levies $4.24M Judgement Against Cabot in Dimock Case). The verdict was obviously brain dead and a federal court judge threw the verdict and judgement out, saying a brand new trial would have to take place (see Fed Court Overturns $4.2M Dimock Judgement Against Cabot O&G). There will now be no new trial. Last week both sides settled the case “amicably”–whatever that means. We’ll tell you what it means. It means Cabot paid big bucks to make it all go away–although they won’t admit it…
    Read More “2 Dimock Families Suing Cabot O&G Settle Out of Court”

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    Anti-Pipeline Quartet Sues Sunoco, ET, Police, Others re ME2 Arrests

    Two serial, paid protesters, along with a landowner and her daughter have sued Sunoco Logistics and parent company Energy Transfer for breaching their constitutional rights. You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in March 2016 in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see PA Anti Literally Goes Up a Tree to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline). It ultimately didn’t matter, because Sunoco came back and cut down the few trees they needed to cut anyway (see Sunoco Tricks Radicalized Protester – Returns and Cuts More Trees). Eventually law enforcement got around to arresting the daughter, and the mom (who also trespassed during tree clearing). Law enforcement also arrested two serial criminal trespassers/antis who participated. Unfortunately, in a miscarriage of justice, the charges against all them were later dropped (see Charges Dismissed Against Tree Sitting Anti in Huntingdon County). The quartet is now suing everyone and his brother: “The suit accuses Sunoco, plus a private security firm, a publicist, and 27 state and local police officers of violating constitutional protections over free speech, false arrest, malicious prosecution and equal protection.” More Big Green money at work with yet another frivolous lawsuit…
    Read More “Anti-Pipeline Quartet Sues Sunoco, ET, Police, Others re ME2 Arrests”

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    CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court

    NEXUS Pipeline, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, is about ready to begin construction–any time. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Last week one of the final remaining hurdles came down when the Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). The only cloud on the horizon are multiple lawsuits and regulatory requests filed by anti-fossil fuel groups, including CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club. Both groups have launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. Those efforts, which increasingly are long-shots, continue. Here’s what CORN and the Sierra Club are doing now that Ohio EPA has given the project its blessing…
    Read More “CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court”

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    Rich Homeowners in Philly Suburb Claim ME2 Work Stirring up Arsenic

    Rich, snobbish homeowners in an “upscale” Philadelphia suburb development are asking an appeals court to stop Sunoco Logistics from building the Mariner East 2 pipeline through the edge of their high-priced development because, they claim, the digging is disturbing the dirt (which is what digging does) and disturbing the dirt is causing lead and arsenic to become dislodged. The lead and arsenic are supposedly in the dirt as a result of pesticides used when the land was an apple orchard. The claim is flat out BS–Barbara Streisand. The Andover Homeowners Association in Thornbury Township (Delaware County) is the same group that a few weeks ago acted like five year-olds by intentionally stepping over a painted line put there to protect them from a ME2 construction zone (see Philly Antis Step Over the Line (Literally) at ME2 Pipeline Site). Spoiled rotten children grow up to be spoiled rotten adults. Here’s the latest tactic to stop a pipeline from the gentry class–just because they don’t like how digging a pipeline makes their development look to the neighbors…
    Read More “Rich Homeowners in Philly Suburb Claim ME2 Work Stirring up Arsenic”

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    Sierra Club Radicals Use FL Court Case to Challenge 2 M-U Pipelines

    In August, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled in a case that may have long-term, very negative consequences for the oil and gas industry related to pipeline development (see DC Court of Appeals Legislates New Law re FERC & Global Warming). The profoundly litigious, anti-fossil fuel radicals of the Sierra Club previously filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) blaming FERC for not considering mythical man-made global warming as it conducted a review of three pipelines in the southeast. The Sierra Club is known for filing frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit. This is just one in a long line. The Southeast Market Pipelines Project is an umbrella project for three natural gas pipelines in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The linchpin of the project is the Sabal Trail pipeline, which travels from Tallapoosa County in eastern Alabama, across southwestern Georgia, and down to Osceola County, Florida, just south of Orlando (nearly 500 miles), feeding gas-fired power plants in the region. The Sierra Club antis said the three projects together didn’t take into consideration an increase in carbon and methane that would result from the three projects getting approved, and that said carbon and methane will contribute to man-made global warming. The D.C. Court of Appeals agreed and instructed FERC to reconsider its environmental assessment of the three projects–vacating an approval of the main part of the project, the Sabal Trail pipeline. Just one teeny tiny problem (for the antis): all three pipelines–Sabal Trail, Hillabee Expansion and Florida Southeast Connection–are up and running. This decision likely will not shut them down. But the decision does have a big impact on projects not yet built. Drunk on their earlier success, yesterday the Sierra Club filed two requests (demands?) with FERC requesting the agency redo their already-done environmental impact statements for Dominion’s $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline from WV through VA and into NC, and for EQT’s $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline, from WV into VA. The Sierra Club says the Sabal Trail decision is all they need to force FERC into redoing the EIS’–to force FERC to consider mythical man-made global warming…
    Read More “Sierra Club Radicals Use FL Court Case to Challenge 2 M-U Pipelines”

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    ExxonKnew Radicals Suffer Major Federal Court Defeat in Mass.

    Last week MDN told you that New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, had just ruled that the New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has the right to demand documents in a court case that accuses Exxon of hiding internal research that shows burning oil and gas leads to catastrophic, man-made global warming (see NY Court Tells Exxon to Turn Over Records to Corrupt AG). This part of the coordinated, colluding effort by Big Green groups to try and shake down Exxon for billions, to “take down one of the biggest” fossil fuel companies, hoping others would fold like a deck of cheap cards, part of the #ExxonKnew campain. Since we brought you that bad news, it’s only fair to bring you the good news too. Not long after the corrupted high court in NY delivered that verdict, a federal judge in Boston dealt a major blow to environmental activist groups suing Exxon as part of the #ExxonKnew campaign. In Boston, a judge ruled the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) suing Exxon had unnecessarily injected global warming flummery into its lawsuit–and the CFL was ordered to refile their lawsuit without it–essentially gutting their effort to sue Exxon. It was a stand-up-and-cheer moment…
    Read More “ExxonKnew Radicals Suffer Major Federal Court Defeat in Mass.”

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    PA Court Case May Create Loophole for Landowners to Bust Old Leases

    According to expert analysis by the legal beagles at the Blank Rome law firm, a recent decision by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania disregards established precedent law and has created a new law in PA, possibly “leaving lessees [drillers] in limbo, possibly giving unscrupulous lessors [landowners] a unilateral tool to terminate oil and gas leases, and ultimately harming both lessors and lessees in the process.” In Montgomery v. R. Oil & Gas Enterprises, two (out of three) judges ruled that oil and gas leases could be severed (terminated) both “vertically” and “horizontally” by unilateral actions of the landowner. In this case “vertical” means shale or other rock layers under the ground, and “horizontal” means surface ownership. As with most things legal, this is a complicated case with a lot of history we won’t attempt to recount it chapter and verse. If we can boil it all down, the judges found that a landowner who had purchased a piece of property with an old lease that contained terms for shallow rock layers and deeper rock layers, could, unilaterally, terminate one aspect of that lease (in this case the shallow layer portion of the lease) while keeping the other aspect of the lease intact (the deeper layers, already drilled and producing). The Blank Rome analysis below does a deep dive into the case, frankly ripping the decision to shreds, and postulates the theory that it may lead to cases in which a landowner with a decades-old lease in which the shallow layers are held by production can separate and convey the deeper layers to a family member or family trust, and then terminate the deeper layer lease, re-releasing it to a different driller…
    Read More “PA Court Case May Create Loophole for Landowners to Bust Old Leases”

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    PA AG Criminal Lawsuit Against XTO Energy Dismissed After 4 Yrs

    Four years after then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane decided to turn an accident into a criminal prosecution against XTO Energy, the final chapter has been written. Anti-drilling Kane attempted to criminalize the accidental spill of a small amount of recycled wastewater by XTO that happened years before she took office (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). There was an accidental spill of ~50,000 gallons of frack wastewater at an XTO drill site in 2010 in Lycoming County, PA. XTO remediated the site, digging up affected soil, and paid out a $100,000 settlement in 2013. By the time Kane took office, the matter had been over and done for over two years. But Kane wanted/needed a quick way to make a splash with her hardcore left fringe supporters (payback time for money and volunteers), so she re-opened the case and fantastically filed criminal charges saying XTO showed a pattern of brazen disregard for safety, blah blah blah. In 2013, XTO filed to dismiss the Kane lawsuit (see XTO Energy Files to Have AG Kane’s Lawsuit Dismissed). The federal EPA also got into the act and last year XTO settled a violation of the Clean Streams Law and Solid Waste Management Act. Pricetag? Another $300,000. Now that the company has paid out the nose ($400,000 total), U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew Brann yesterday approved a motion filed by the U.S. attorney’s office to end the case. Finally. After four years…
    Read More “PA AG Criminal Lawsuit Against XTO Energy Dismissed After 4 Yrs”

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    OH, WV Landowners Sue Antero re Post-Production Royalty Deductions

    Lawsuits filed against Antero Resources in both Ohio and West Virginia seek class action status. Both lawsuits make similar claims: Namely that Antero has improperly deducted post-production expenses from royalty checks (not allowed under lease terms), and that Antero has avoided, with creative accounting, paying royalties on natural gas liquids (NGLs) produced. The OH lawsuit was first filed in January of this year, followed by a lawsuit filed in WV in May. We have copies of both complaints below, so you can read the language for yourself. In the case of the OH lawsuit, Antero filed a motion to dismiss. The landowners amended the complaint and Antero dropped their motion to dismiss. The OH lawsuit, and as near as we can tell, the WV lawsuit, are both moving forward. Here’s our summary of both lawsuits–the MDN Cliffs Notes version…
    Read More “OH, WV Landowners Sue Antero re Post-Production Royalty Deductions”

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    Lawyers ask US Supreme Court to Hear WV EQT Royalty Case

    WV Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker

    In a decision that thrilled drillers, but angered landowners, the West Virginia Supreme Court decided in May to overturn its own previous decision (from last December) and allow driller EQT to deduct post-production expenses from royalty payments (see WV Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Post-Production Deductions OK). Last December MDN reported on the huge WV Supreme Court decision against driller EQT that disallows EQT from deducting post-production expenses from royalty checks, even with signed contracts in place (see WV Supreme Court Rules EQT Can’t Deduct P-P Costs from Royalties). The justices, in their ruling, said that drillers can “not deduct from that (royalty) amount any expenses that have been incurred in gathering, transporting or treating the oil or gas after it has been initially extracted, any sums attributable to a loss or beneficial use of volume beyond that initially measured or any other costs that may be characterized as post-production.” A really big deal. Then in February, with a brand new justice on the bench, the WV Supreme Court agreed to rehear the case after an appeal filed by EQT–a rare and unusual step (see EQT Catches Big Break in WV Supreme Court re Royalty Deductions). Those who won the case say newly elected Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Walker had conflicts of interest and should not have been allowed to vote to rehear the case in the first place (which she did). On that basis, they tried to avoid the rehearing altogether, but that failed. As it turns out, the lawyers mainly argued over the meaning of three short words: “at the wellhead” (see WV Supreme Court Post-Production Royalty Case Hinges on 3 Words). In the May decision, the justices reversed their earlier decision, voting 4-1 in favor of allowing EQT to deduct “reasonable” post-production expenses. Newly elected Justice Beth Walker, with (according to the other side) conflicts of interest, voted in favor of EQT. On the basis that Walker should not have been part of the process at all, lawyers for the losing landowners have appealed the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court…
    Read More “Lawyers ask US Supreme Court to Hear WV EQT Royalty Case”

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    NY Court Tells Exxon to Turn Over Records to Corrupt AG

    Bruce Plante Cartoon

    New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has just ruled that the New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has the right to demand documents in a court case that accuses Exxon of hiding internal research that shows burning oil and gas leads to catastrophic, man-made global warming. Schiederman has been on a witch hunt for more than year. Schneiderman himself is accused of secretly (illegally) colluding with Big Green groups in targeting Exxon. Schneiderman has been subpoenaed and told to turn over emails and other records, and he has refused to do so (see NY AG, Others Served Congressional Subpoena re Exxon Witch Hunt). Yet Schneiderman demands Exxon turn over records for his fishing expedition. The man is a menace–and a putz. Unfortunately New York’s high court appears to be corrupt too–witness their decision to uphold local frack bans (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). Now the high court says Exxon must comply (like a Borg drone) with Schneiderman’s request. Our advice to Exxon: Pull a Hillary and say the emails got deleted from a private server. Hey, it worked for her!…
    Read More “NY Court Tells Exxon to Turn Over Records to Corrupt AG”

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    Trouble for Mountain Valley Pipe: WV DEP Withdraws Water Permit

    In March, the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) issued a federal water crossing permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)–a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA (see WV DEP Grants Mountain Valley Pipeline Water Crossing Permit). In June, a group of profoundly radical “environmental” organizations (Sierra Club, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Indian Creek Watershed Association, Appalachian Voices and Chesapeake Climate Action Network) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit against the WVDEP for doing their job issuing the permit (see Radicals File Lawsuit Against WV DEP for Approving MV Pipeline). Because of the pressure of that lawsuit, last week the WVDEP caved and reversed their decision, rescinding (called “vacating”) the permit for MVP. The WVDEP says they will now “re-evaluate the complete application to determine whether the state’s certification is in compliance with Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act.” Another victory for the forces of evil…
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    WV Surface Owners Win Important Case Against EQT re Drill Pad

    A West Virginia Circuit Court case decided last week (by jury) found in favor of surface owners against a well pad constructed by EQT. The decision has far-reaching implications for not only surface owners and drillers, but mineral rights owners too. From the first time we read about so-called “joint development” legislation being promoted by the drilling industry in WV (back in February), we’ve not been fans (see More on WV’s Push for “Joint Development” Instead of Forced Pooling). In brief, there are a number of existing old leases in WV, signed before shale drilling began, that prevents drillers from drilling a horizontal well across an individual property boundary line–until a new lease is signed. Joint development says if the driller already owns the leases on all adjoining properties they want to combine into a drilling unit, they can do so without signing a new lease. The proposed joint development law seemed to us to be a way for drillers to avoid negotiating and paying more for new leases–which they should be willing to do! However, the case of Crowder and Wentz v EQT puts joint development in a new light for us. The case appears (to us) to be an abuse of power by surface owners against both drillers and mineral rights owners–by using the current prohibition against joint development. We certainly understand why surface rights owners would resist having a drill pad on their property, however, that’s life. They bought land (or inherited it, etc.) that doesn’t have mineral rights attached. Under existing WV law, a well pad can be drilled, taking 10-15 acres of the surface land (against the surface landowner’s wishes, but with compensation), in order to access the minerals under that specific piece of property. However, the court ruled last week in Crowder and Wentz v EQT that a driller cannot then use that same already-constructed well pad to further drill wells that access minerals under other, adjacent properties. Which in our book makes a strong case for a joint development law, to avoid this kind of misuse by surface landowners…
    Read More “WV Surface Owners Win Important Case Against EQT re Drill Pad”