New Hearing Dates for Hilcorp’s Forced Pooling Request in PA
Last October MDN told you about Hilcorp’s request to force some Pennsylvania landowners in Lawrence County, PA to allow Hilcorp to drill under (not on) their property in the Utica Shale layer (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). After much tooing and froing, the PA courts told the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the DEP would need to make the decision (see Ironic: PA Enviro Court Forcing DEP to Rule on Forced Pooling). The DEP set a public hearing for March 25 & 26 in Lawrence County, and then postponed it (see Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing Postponed, More Landowners Added).
We finally have final final final hearing dates from the DEP–May 7 & 8. Here’s the lowdown from the DEP, in which they say the hearings will be conducted “like a trial”…
Read More “New Hearing Dates for Hilcorp’s Forced Pooling Request in PA”
MDN previously told you about Hilcorp’s lawsuit to force some hold-out landowners in Lawrence County, PA to allow drilling under their land–a concept called forced pooling. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the PA courts treated it like a hot potato. The courts finally told the DEP that they (the DEP) would need to decide the matter. So the DEP had set aside two days this week to conduct public hearings in New Castle (see 
This is not the kind of story we enjoy sharing with you. Hilcorp, a major driller in the Utica and Marcellus Shale, has decided to take what we consider “the low road” and is using a 1961 Pennsylvania law to sue a landowner to allow them to drill under their property. It’s called “forced pooling,” “compulsory integration,” and a variety of other terms. MDN does not support it. Our argument is simple: My neighbor should not have the right to tell me I can’t drill on and under my land, and I should not have the right to force it on my neighbor if they don’t want it. We believe it’s the only defensible position in the drilling debate.