Mealey's Fracking : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Fracking

February 21, 2024
Man Awarded $30M For Fracking Injury, But Colorado’s Damages Cap Limits Recovery

DENVER — A jury in Colorado federal court has awarded a man $30 million in combined damages for injuries he sustained when a hydraulic fracturing rig he was working on exploded. However, due to a state cap on punitive damages, the man will not be able to collect all $30 million the jury awarded him.
February 20, 2024
Slovak Republic Tells ICSID U.S. Driller Broke Local Law, Harmed Own Investment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Feb. 19 published the Slovak Republic’s rejoinder to a U.S. oil company’s arguments accusing Slovakia of causing its investment more than $568.2 million in damages, in which the nation asserts that the company caused its own misfortunes, not government regulatory agencies.
February 20, 2024
In Post-Grant Review Halliburton Defends Fracking Technology As Patent-Eligible

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A petition for post-grant review (PGR) of a purportedly improved hydraulic fracturing process engages in oversimplification of the claims in making the case for a finding of patent ineligibility, Halliburton Energy Services Inc. contends in a Feb. 16 filing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
February 16, 2024
In Advance Of Trial, Parties Debate Right To Drill, Definition Of ‘Utica Shale’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hydraulic fracturing companies and leaseholders who sued them in a royalty dispute filed competing trial briefs in Ohio federal court on Feb. 15. The defendant companies argue that the phrase “commonly known as the Utica Shale” includes the rock unit into which they drilled and, therefore, they did not act unlawfully or unjustly. The leaseholders say the lease language reveals that the defendants did not have the right to drill in the Point Pleasant Formation or any other formations that lie below the base of the Utica Shale.
February 16, 2024
United States And Apache Corp. File Consent Decree Resolving Alleged CAA Violations

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a consent decree filed the same day as a complaint, Apache Corp. agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violation claims brought against it by the United States arising from the company’s fracking operations in New Mexico and Texas.
February 12, 2024
Magistrate Recommends Class In Fracking Securities Case But Limits Focus Period

HOUSTON — A federal magistrate judge on Feb. 9 recommended that class certification be granted in a securities fraud case against a hydraulic fracturing operator but limited the focus period of the litigation because there was no front-end price impact attributable to the alleged misrepresentations and the company had rebutted what is known as the Basic presumption.
February 09, 2024
Texas Panel Rules Against Landowner In Dispute Over Fracking Contract

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas appellate panel on Feb. 8 affirmed a lower court’s take-nothing judgment against a landowner on his claims against a hydraulic fracturing company and reversed the trial court’s order granting the fracking operator nonsuit without prejudice on its wrongful injunction claim in a breach of contract lawsuit.
February 09, 2024
Panel: Abstention Doctrine Not Applicable In West Virginia Mineral Rights Case

RICHMOND, Va. — A panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a mineral rights lawsuit, ruling that a lower court abused its discretion in applying the Pullman abstention doctrine without adhering to important limitations of the doctrine regarding its relevance to a question presented by the West Virginia Constitution.
February 08, 2024
Investors Appeal Securities Case Against Fracking Operator To 5th Circuit

NEW ORLEANS — Shareholders who had their securities lawsuit against a hydraulic fracturing operator dismissed in Texas federal court for failure to state a claim have filed a notice of appeal in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
February 08, 2024
Judge Denies Bid To Disqualify Leaseholders’ Counsel In Fracking Royalty Dispute

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has denied a hydraulic fracturing operator’s motion to disqualify counsel for leaseholders who sued it for trespassing and unpaid royalties related to the alleged illegal removal of natural gas, oil and other hydrocarbons from a shale formation. The judge said that the fracking company’s motion was without merit.
February 07, 2024
Attorneys Debate Authority, Consideration Of Options In Willow Project Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys for environmental groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) debated before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding whether the BLM’s approval of the Willow Project, a hydraulic fracturing operation in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, violated the agency’s obligations under federal law. The attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said the BLM is “supposed to look before they leap.”
February 07, 2024
Judge Denies Stay, Says Mineral Rights Holders Would Be ‘Substantially Prejudiced’

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia on Feb. 6 denied a stay in a mineral rights dispute, ruling that the mineral rights holders would be “substantially prejudiced” because it would be another delay in proceedings that have been stalled pending a decision in related litigation.
February 06, 2024
North Dakota: Agencies Are Not Complying With Order For Fracking Lease Information

BISMARCK, N.D. — The state of North Dakota has filed a brief in North Dakota federal court in response to a status report filed by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), in which the state argues that the DOI and other federal defendants have not complied with the court’s prior orders regarding transparency and the production of documents related to the parties’ dispute over an order that enjoined and restrained the federal agencies from imposing what the state calls “the Stop.” That term refers to the federal agencies’ decision to cancel certain hydraulic fracturing lease sales.
January 31, 2024
Federal Agency Denies Fracking Lease Claims Against It, Says Standing Lacking

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Jan. 30, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) filed an answer in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to an amended complaint in a federal hydraulic fracturing lease dispute, denying allegations that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and contending that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims.
January 31, 2024
Drilling Companies Deny Claims In Mineral Rights Case, Say Standing Is Lacking

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Drilling companies filed an answer in Ohio federal court on Jan. 30 in a mineral rights dispute, denying claims brought by mineral rights holders who contend that they breached the royalty agreement between the parties. The companies also assert affirmative defenses, including that the action is barred due to lack of standing.
January 31, 2024
Group: EPA’s Approval Of Colorado’s Air Quality Rules Violated Federal Law

DENVER — The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed its opening brief in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a direct appeal under the Clean Air Act (CAA) related to Colorado’s state implementation plan (SIP) for keeping air pollutants below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), arguing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the law in approving the plan. The SIP has particular application with regard to emissions associated with hydraulic fracturing activity.
January 30, 2024
Pennsylvania Agency Announces Fracking Chemical Disclosure Requirements

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that it is instituting a new policy under which hydraulic fracturing companies must publicly disclose the chemicals they use in fracking operations earlier in the well development process than has been required previously.
January 30, 2024
Halliburton Defends Patent Board’s Anticipation, Obviousness Determinations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Substantial evidence supports a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that technology directed to the automation of hydraulic fracturing processes is unpatentable, Halliburton Energy Systems Inc. maintains in a recent appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 29, 2024
Groups: Current Dimensions Of National Monuments Are Needed To Protect Land

DENVER — Conservation advocates and archaeology groups have filed separate amicus curiae briefs in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the current boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which were reinstated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., are needed for the proper care and management of the resources in those lands, and the dimensions of the monuments are lawful under the Antiquities Act as it has been interpreted for more than a century.
January 25, 2024
Ohio Court Reverses Injection Well Ruling, Says Takings Claim Is ‘Cognizable’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Jan. 24 reversed and remanded a lower court and held that a company that disposes of hydraulic fracturing wastewater had stated a legal cognizable interest for a partial taking of its property by a state agency that ordered it to suspend operations at its injection well after it was determined that activity at the well had resulted in earthquakes.
January 24, 2024
In Mineral Rights Case, Judge Nixes Declaratory Judgment Claim As Duplicative

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has ruled in a mineral rights dispute that the plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract and declaratory judgment are duplicative because they arise from the same allegations pursuant to the mineral leases at issue. As a result, the judge dismissed the claim for declaratory judgment.
January 24, 2024
Defendant Cites Rule Of Capture In 3-Page Answer To Long-Running Fracking Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A hydraulic fracturing operator has filed a short answer in Pennsylvania federal court in a long-running and complex dispute, denying a trespass claim brought by plaintiffs who contend that they continue to be victims of intrusive conduct that results in natural gas being extracted from their land. The fracking company argues that the claims are precluded by the Rule of Capture.
January 22, 2024
High Court Refuses To Consider If Damage Caused By Insured’s Work Is Occurrence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari on Jan. 22, refusing to consider whether the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rewrote Pennsylvania insurance law in its application of the faulty workmanship doctrine when it found that damages to natural gas wells caused by an insured’s fracking work does not constitute an occurrence under a commercial general liability policy.
January 18, 2024
Alaska Authority: Agency’s Use Of Lease Terms Still Amounts To Violation Of Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A state authority that supports hydraulic fracturing in Alaska filed an amended complaint in the federal fracking lease dispute before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, adding a claim for violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) based on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) use of the word “license” rather than “lease.” The authority says the DOI’s interpretation of the words is “strained and unsupported” and still amounts to a violation of the APA.
January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.