Judge: Underpaid Royalties, Trespass Claims Survive In Mineral Rights Case

( March 25, 2025, 1:57 PM EDT) -- COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on March 24 partially dismissed a lawsuit by mineral rights holders against hydraulic fracturing operators in a dispute over the boundaries of the shale formation from which the fracking companies are extracting natural gas using a procedure called horizontal drilling, ruling that the defendants are liable for unpaid royalties and trespass....