AMS Court Hearing Day Two: Comply by July 22 or Jail Time for CEO
Yesterday was the second and final day of a hearing begun on Monday in Belmont County, OH, Common Pleas Court to determine whether or not Austin Master Services (AMS) and its parent company American Environmental Partners (AEP), along with the owner of both companies, Brad Domitrovitsch, has failed to comply with an order from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to clean up and clear out a facility in Martins Ferry that currently holds too much frack waste. The hearing concluded with the judge’s finding that AMS, AEP, and Domitrovitsch are in “contempt” of a previous court directive to get the facility cleaned by April 17. Beginning yesterday, AMS will be fined $200 per day. If the facility is not cleaned up and in compliance by July 22, the judge has ordered Domitrovitsch (who does not live in Ohio) to report to Belmont County jail to serve a 30-day sentence.
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Yesterday, MDN brought you the news that Chesapeake Energy, with its headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK, had begun a round of layoffs, supposedly (according to Chesapeake) due to the company divesting from Eagle Ford oil assets (see 
A group of landowners in Belmont County, OH, filed a lawsuit against Rice Drilling (now EQT Corporation) in July 2021, alleging the company had shorted them on royalty payments by (a) selling the gas extracted to an affiliated (instead of unaffiliated) third party, and (b) deducting post-production costs specifically disallowed under the signed contract. Several landowners who are part of what was originally known as the Smith-Goshen Landowners Group have requested a federal court in Ohio to elevate the lawsuit to class-action status.
One month ago, the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission upheld a regulatory order from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) suspending the operation of three wastewater injection wells located in Torch (Athens County), OH, owned by K&H Partners, a subsidiary of Tallgrass Energy (see 
Anti-fossil fuel fanatics have a tried-and-true playbook in Pennsylvania. They appeal *every single inch* of new pipeline, no matter where it’s located, whether that pipeline flows natural gas, NGLs, oil, or petroleum products like gasoline. Want to replace an existing pipeline in an area? Antis are against it, saying it will saddle ratepayers with “stranded assets” in a few unspecified years’ time (when “renewables” take over). Want to build a new pipeline? God forbid! They go berserk with all sorts of wild claims about pipelines being racist (being built in places where poor folks of color can’t fight back to stop them). It’s disgusting what these liars will do to oppose a new pipeline. One of their favorite legal tactics in Pennsylvania is to appeal a permit issued by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court in PA that hears appeals of DEP decisions. However, antis are abusing the PA court system.
The left is nervous about the oil and gas sector giving money to the campaign of Donald J. Trump. The New York Times, a bastion of leftist Democrat propaganda, has a headline and story blaring, “Biden and Big Oil Had a Truce. Now, It’s Collapsing.” Bloomberg’s version says, “Oil Titans Help Give Trump an Edge Over Biden in Fundraising.” Both stories reference a fundraising lunch being held today in Houston, Texas. The event will have a Who’s Who in the O&G industry, including Kelsy Warren from pipeline giant Energy Transfer, Harold Hamm, founder of oil driller Continental Resources, and Vicki Hollub, CEO of oil drilling giant Occidental Petroleum. They are ALL opening their wallets for Mr. Trump. And that makes the left nervous.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: WV’s Manchin addresses report he’s being recruited to run for gov; EQT CEO raises concerns over Biden EPA power plant regs; NATIONAL: Net-zero comes with insane $215 trillion price tag; Iberdrola to fully acquire USA subsidiary Avangrid; Why O&G infra. investment soaring while production growth is flat; Shale 4.0 era about building scale; A more honest climate science?; INTERNATIONAL: Oil falls amid signs of physical market weakness.
Finally, it’s the end of the road for Big Green using (abusing) six uppity Virginia landowners who didn’t want the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to cross their well-groomed horse pastures. The landowners, funded by Big Green and using Big Green lawyers, sued repeatedly to try and overturn the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) right to delegate its eminent domain authority to pipeline companies like MVP in order to build pipelines. Big Green and the landowners knew it wouldn’t stop MVP — the hope was to block all (and we mean ALL) future pipelines from getting built. That was the end game. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court said it will not revisit the case. It had already looked at this case once before. This is well and truly the end of the line for these landowners and Big Green in attempting to gut FERC’s eminent domain authority. Finally.
The ghost of Doug “the ax” Lawler is once again roaming the halls of Chesapeake Energy (see 
American Environmental Partners (AEP) and its owner, Brad Domitrovitsch, had their first day in court yesterday in Belmont County, OH, to address a motion by Ohio’s Attorney General, David Yost, to hold the company and Domitrovitsch in contempt for not complying with an order to clean up the Austin Master Services (AMS) facility owned by AEP. Although the hearing was scheduled to begin at 10 am, it didn’t actually start until 11:10 am. The judge gave the attorneys for the parties involved time to talk in an effort to arrive at a resolution. Which obviously didn’t happen as the hearing went forward. There was just one witness for the day yesterday.
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) approved two bids to drill for oil and gas under (not on) state-owned lands yesterday. Antero Resources was the sole bidder to drill under a Dept. of Transportation (DOT) property in Noble County. Southwestern Energy won its bid to drill under DOT land in Monroe County along the Ohio River. The OGLMC also advanced five other nominations to drill under state-owned properties to the bidding process. One nomination advancing is a request to drill under the 84-acre Keen Wildlife Area in Harrison County (see 
We’ve read the canard a number of times in recent months that the Biden administration has been good for oil and gas. Why? Because (goes the Democrat line), O&G is producing more now than ever. Because O&G companies are more profitable now than ever. Because O&G shareholders are doing better now than ever. So the Dems believe O&G should love the Biden administration. But here’s the truth: O&G is doing OK now DESPITE the onslaught against it by the Biden administration. The health and well being of O&G companies today is NOT the result of Biden’s policies (which have sought to destroy fossil energy), but despite those policies. We are doing OK today because of the lingering benefits of the policies put into effect under Donald Trump, not because of anything Joe Biden has done.
American Environmental Partners (AEP) and its owner, Brad Domitrovitsch, are due in court today in Belmont County, OH, to address a motion by Ohio’s Attorney General, David Yost, to hold the company and Domitrovitsch in contempt for not complying with an order to clean up the Austin Master Services (AMS) facility owned by AEP. AMS is a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry ( in Belmont County) close to the Ohio River. Media accounts report that AMS has stored at least 10,000 tons of fracking waste (drill cuttings with low radioactivity) at the facility. The facility is rated and permitted to hold 600 tons. In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Belmont County Common Pleas Court to block AMS from receiving more waste and order it to clean up and comply with its rating. The court granted both requests with a deadline of April 17 to comply. The deadline came and went without compliance.