Mealey's Fracking
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December 09, 2021
Shareholder Says Fracking Company Violated Securities Laws Regarding Merger
PHILADELPHIA — A shareholder in a hydraulic fracturing company on Dec. 8 sued the company in Pennsylvania federal court contending that the company and its officers violated federal securities laws when they failed to disclose material information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a proposed merger.
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December 09, 2021
Legislators Reassert Standing In Delaware River Basin Fracking Moratorium Case
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania legislators on Nov. 17 filed a reply brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals contending that they have standing to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) for its moratorium on hydraulic fracturing because they are trustees of the state’s national resources under the state constitution.
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December 09, 2021
North Dakota: Agency Should Be Compelled To Resume Fracking Lease Sales
BISMARCK, N.D. — The state of North Dakota on Nov. 23 filed a brief arguing that the U.S. Department of the Interior, in its brief opposing the state’s petition for a writ of mandamus seeking immediate relief compelling the federal government to hold quarterly fracking lease sales, “attempts to divert attention from the undeniable fact” that it has canceled all of the quarterly lease sales in North Dakota in 2021 and it should be compelled to resume lease sales.
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December 09, 2021
Appellants: California High Court Should Reverse Ruling On Local Drilling Measure
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A citizen group and a medical doctor on Nov. 19 filed a petition for review in the California Supreme Court contending that a lower court’s “radical new interpretation” of California Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 3106.2 regarding a local drilling ordinance “calls into question whether and to what extent local governments may continue to prohibit or otherwise regulate any land uses related to oil and gas activities.”
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December 08, 2021
Pipeline Company Seeks High Court Review Of Remand Issue Related To FERC Permit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A hydraulic fracturing pipeline company on Dec. 3 filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court contending that, in a case where Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has already denied a stay to prevent a circuit court’s ruling prohibiting construction from taking effect, the court should grant certiorari to “establish a uniform nationwide remedial standard for cases challenging federal agency action to reject the D.C. Circuit’s unduly restrictive approach to remand without vacatur.”
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December 07, 2021
Company Says Groups Assert Arguments Against Fracking Pipeline That Lack Merit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A hydraulic fracturing pipeline company on Dec. 3 filed a brief in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals contending that environmental groups who have appealed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) assert arguments that lack merit, and the Circuit Court should “reject this bid to further delay construction of a much-needed energy infrastructure project.”
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December 07, 2021
Pipeline Company To Pay $4.34M For Drilling Fluid Spill At Pennsylvania Lake
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania environmental agencies on Dec. 6 announced that the state has reached a settlement with hydraulic fracturing pipeline company Sunoco Pipeline LP under which it will pay a combined $4,341,000 in natural resource damages and civil penalties for discharging drilling fluids into a lake at a state park.
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December 06, 2021
Judge Stops Fracking Company From Moving Assets Overseas During Contract Dispute
TULSA, Okla. — A federal judge in Oklahoma on Dec. 3 granted an emergency writ of attachment and a restraining order preventing a hydraulic fracturing company based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from removing parts of drilling rigs from the United States during the pendency of a case brought against it by a company that contends that the fracking operator has refused to pay for repairs made to the rigs.
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December 03, 2021
Judge Says Genuine Issues Of Fact Exist In Injury Case Involving Fracking Sand
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Nov. 16 denied multiple motions to dismiss a hydraulic fracturing injury case, ruling that genuine issues of material fact exist with regard to the safety of the machinery used in the incident and that resolving factual disputes is the task of the jury.
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November 30, 2021
Pennsylvania High Court Says Entity Liable For Damages Under Inverse Condemnation
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Nov. 29 reversed and remanded a lower court’s decision and determined that an entity can be held liable for damages under Pennsylvania’s inverse condemnation statute even if it is not clothed with the power of eminent domain.
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November 23, 2021
5th Circuit Should Reverse Injunction Against Pause Of Fracking Leases, Biden Says
NEW ORLEANS— The Biden administration on Nov. 16 filed a brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a Louisiana federal judge blocking President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s executive order halting new federal hydraulic fracturing leases should be reversed and vacated because there is no basis for the injunction and there is no reason to apply it to all eligible onshore and offshore lands.
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November 23, 2021
Oil Industry Trade Groups Back Supreme Court Review Of Dakota Pipeline Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a ruling against pipeline company Dakota Access LLC, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created an “unpredictable ‘convince the court’ standard” for deciding when a detailed environmental analysis is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when a federal agency approves an infrastructure project, trade groups say in a Nov. 17 amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling.
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November 22, 2021
Green Groups Not Allowed To Intervene In Fracking Case, Trade Organizations Say
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Hydraulic fracturing industry trade groups on Nov. 17 filed a brief in Louisiana federal court contending that it should deny a motion by environmental advocacy groups that want to intervene in a federal lease dispute, arguing that the same groups had a similar motion denied in another federal fracking lease case.
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November 05, 2021
Fracking Trade Group: Case Challenging Activity On Alaska’s Northern Slope Fails
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) on Nov. 3 filed an answer in Alaska federal court arguing that it should dismiss the lawsuit brought by environmental groups that challenge the incidental take regulation (ITR) issued by federal agencies that allows the AOGA to “take” polar bears and walruses to pursue hydraulic fracturing in Alaska’s Northern Slope on grounds that the court lacks jurisdiction.
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November 05, 2021
Company Says Fracking Patent Case Fails To State A Claim, Should Be Dismissed
PITTSBURGH — A company that makes a hydraulic fracturing valve system on Oct. 22 moved in Pennsylvania federal court to dismiss an intellectual property case against it, arguing that the plaintiff, who says he has an ownership interest in the product, fails to state a claim.
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November 05, 2021
Investor: Fracking Company’s ‘Materially False’ Statements Broke Securities Laws
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A shareholder in a hydraulic fracturing company on Oct. 25 sued the company in New York federal court contending that the company’s officers violated federal securities laws when they made statements that were “materially false and/or misleading” regarding the company’s fracking business. The plaintiff also contends that the company misrepresented its “operational and financial results.”
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November 05, 2021
Groups Appeal To 10th Circuit, Say Fracking In Mancos Shale Violates Federal Law
DENVER — A Native American association and environmental groups on Oct. 19 filed a docketing statement in the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, contending that a lower court erred when it dismissed their case against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its approval of hydraulic fracturing in the Mancos Shale play.
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November 05, 2021
Group: Pause On Lease Sales Is Good For ‘Antiquated’ Federal Fracking Program
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A group of locally elected officials from multiple regions across the Interior West on Oct. 20 filed an amicus curiae brief in Wyoming federal court in support of the Biden administration, saying the federal government’s authority to postpone hydraulic fracturing lease sales plays an important role in enabling “long-awaited reforms to the antiquated federal oil and gas leasing program.”
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November 05, 2021
Investor Says Proxy Statement Was False, Merger Violates Law And Should Be Stopped
DENVER — A shareholder on Oct. 21 sued a hydraulic fracturing company in Colorado federal court contending that its officers violated federal securities laws when they issued a proxy statement for a proposed merger that “omits and/or misrepresents material information” concerning the deal in question. The shareholder also seeks a court order enjoining the merger.
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November 05, 2021
Judge: Agencies May Not Disregard North Dakota’s Brief About Fracking Lease Sales
BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge in North Dakota on Oct. 19 issued a text order on the docket denying a motion filed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal agencies seeking to disregard portions of a brief filed by the state of North Dakota, which has filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking immediate relief compelling the federal government to hold quarterly fracking lease sales.