Oil and Gas Update

Federal court in Pennsylvania Invalidates Township Ordinance Prohibiting Oil and Gas Waste Disposal

April 12, 2017

By opinion of March 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania invalidated an ordinance adopted by Pennsylvania’s Grant Township.  The Township’s “Community Bill of Rights Ordinance” prohibited corporations from “engaging in the depositing of waste from oil and gas extraction” and invalidated any “permit, license, privilege, charter or other authority issued…

New Jersey Town Claims it Was HooDooed by Pipeline Company

April 5, 2017

Chesterfield Township, New Jersey has sued Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company (Transco) for fraud. The Township claims that it sold a parcel of property to Transco for the construction of a compressor station, believing it would simply be used to service an existing transmission line running along the New Jersey Turnpike.  After selling the property, however, the Township learned that…

Virginia Court Allows ACP Pipeline to Conduct Surveys Without Landowner Permission

February 13, 2017

According to the Nelson County Times, a trial court in Nelson County, Virginia has ruled that the Virginia statute authorizing natural gas companies to conduct surveys means what it says.   The Virginia statute provides that:

Any firm, corporation, company, or partnership, organized for the bona fide purpose of operating as a natural gas company … may make such … surveys for its…

Monkey Wrenches on the Way: Anti-Pipeline Group from the Midwest Wants in on the Appalachian Action

January 30, 2017

According to a recent publication by Inside Climate News, a group claiming to have played a pivotal role in the efforts to block the Keystone XL Pipeline, is here to help wage war against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. A group known as Bold Alliance bills itself as a network of “small and mighty” groups in rural states (Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma), which…

Little Known Agency Assumes New Enforcement Powers

October 19, 2016

A little known federal agency in charge of pipeline safety has just issued a new regulation that represents a major change in its enforcement authority over regulated pipelines. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, has announced an “Interim Final Rule” (IFR) on its website which will authorize it to…

Court Allows Pipeline Opponents to Challenge Clean Water Act Permits Directly in Circuit Courts of Appeal

August 11, 2016

The Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) of 1938 grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) exclusive authority to regulate sales and transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce. To that end, Section 7 of the NGA empowers FERC to authorize the construction and operation of interstate transportation facilities—i.e., pipelines.  FERC does so by determining whether a project serves the…

There is an Implied Right to Pool an Oil and Gas Lease

April 20, 2016

In a case of first impression in West Virginia, on April 15, 2016, Judge David W. Hummel, Chief Judge of the 2^nd Judicial Circuit (Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler Counties, West Virginia), entered an order ruling that there is an implied right to pool an oil and gas lease. The case, American Energy – Marcellus, LLC v. Poling, et al., Civil Action No. 15-C-34 H, involved an 1894 lease held by…

Sierra Club Sues Gas Industry Claiming Waste Injection is Causing Earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas

February 22, 2016

The Sierra Club has sued Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy and New Dominion in federal court in Oklahoma. The complaint alleges that waste injection by all three companies has contributed to an increase in the number and severity of earthquakes throughout Oklahoma and southern Kansas.  Specifically, it claims that the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased more than 300 fold, from a…