(July 12, 2022, 12:38 PM EDT) -- WHEELING, W.Va. — A trio of landowners, as members of proposed class, on July 8 sued a group of energy companies and hydraulic fracturing operators in West Virginia federal court contending that their properties are burdened with abandoned wells that the defendants have a duty to plug to reduce methane emissions and restore damaged properties under state law. They also claim that the defendants made fraudulent transfers of assets as part of a “scheme” to shed liabilities....