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Mealey's Fracking

  • October 28, 2025

    Groups Broaden Case Against Trump Over Reopening Of Offshore Areas For Fracking

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Environmental groups that are challenging President Donald J. Trump’s executive order that reopened areas of the outer continental shelf (OCS) for hydraulic fracturing have filed a second amended and supplemental complaint in Alaska federal court,  broadening the case from a narrow challenge to Trump’s January rescission of former President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the OCS into an attack on Trump’s “unlawful attempt to undo permanent protections for certain areas” of the OCS and other regions that were instituted by former President Barack Obama.

  • October 24, 2025

    Interior Department Reopens Arctic To Fracking, Acting On Trump’s Executive Order

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), on Oct. 23 released a new record of decision (ROD) adopting an oil and gas leasing program that officially opens roughly 1,563,500 acres in the Coastal Plain of Alaska for hydraulic fracturing in keeping with the executive order titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” issued by President Donald J. Trump on the first day of his second term. Plans for oil and gas extraction in that region of Alaska have been the subject of much dispute and litigation across multiple presidential administrations.

  • October 24, 2025

    Judge Approves Distribution Plan For $40M Settlement In Fracking Securities Case

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas has approved the distribution plan for a $40 million all-cash payment to settle claims brought by shareholders against a hydraulic fracturing operator and three of its senior executives, ruling that the process of reviewing claims has been completed.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge: Drilling Permits Do Not Foreclose Tort Claims Against Fracking Operators

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal magistrate judge in Ohio denied a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings 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 fracking operators have not carried their burden to demonstrate that the existence of drilling permits from the state of Ohio forecloses the plaintiff’s tort claims.

  • October 21, 2025

    Judge Says Class Certification Proper In Abandoned Wells, Tainted Water Case

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado has granted plaintiffs class certification in their lawsuit over abandoned hydraulic fracturing wells that the plaintiffs contend pose a threat to human health and have the potential to contaminate groundwater, ruling that class certification is proper under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3) because the plaintiffs met all of the requirements for certification.

  • October 16, 2025

    Mont. High Court: Pa. Law Applies To Reporter’s Subpoenaed Records On Tainted Water

    HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on Oct. 15 ruled that a lower court erred when it found that Montana’s Media Confidentiality Act (MMCA) applied to a reporter’s records that were the subject of a subpoena in litigation brought by a hydraulic fracturing company against a media outlet related to a news story about groundwater contamination from fracking operations that affected a family in Pennsylvania.  The high court reversed and remanded the matter, ruling that the lower court “must apply the Pennsylvania Shield Law and the qualified reporter’s privilege to the subpoena and determine whether all or some of the documents sought are privileged under Pennsylvania law.”

  • October 10, 2025

    California Board Sues Offshore Fracking Operator For Violations Of Water Code

    SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The California Regional Water Quality Control Board has sued Sable Offshore Corp. in state court seeking civil liabilities and injunctive relief for allegedly intentionally ignoring its obligations under the California Water Code to apply to the board for permits before proposing to discharge waste that could affect the water quality of the state.

  • October 09, 2025

    Leaseholders Say Class Claims Are ‘Well-Established’ In Fracking Royalty Case

    PHILADELPHIA — Hydraulic fracturing leaseholders have filed a brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that it should deny a fracking operator’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation that granted the leaseholders partial class certification in a royalty dispute. The leaseholders say that their breach of contract claim is “well-established.”

  • October 09, 2025

    Judge Gives Final OK To $15M Class Settlement In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 8 gave final approval to a settlement in a securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline, ruling that the deal, which provides a cash payment of $15 million to the plaintiffs, is “in all respects, fair, reasonable, and adequate.”

  • October 09, 2025

    9th Circuit Denies Bid To Dismiss Appeal Of Ruling On Company’s Right To Drill

    SAN FRANCISCO — The clerk of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an order denying Ventura County’s motion to dismiss an appeal brought by an oil company seeking review of a lower court’s dismissal of the company’s claim for inverse condemnation in a dispute over a default judgment that nullified the company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations.

  • October 07, 2025

    Federal Leasing Activities To Continue During Shutdown, Agency Plans Indicate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two agencies that are departments of the U.S. Department of the Interior have posted contingency plans on the DOI website indicating that during the shutdown of the federal government, permitting activities for hydraulic fracturing and other energy related operations on federal land will continue.  The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) plan says that it is doing so “in order to protect human life and federal property and address the National Energy Emergency.” A separate plan was issued by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Stays Challenge To Federal Plan For Fracking In Gulf Of Mexico

    GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland on Oct. 7 issued a paperless order as a note on the docket, staying proceedings in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups that challenges the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) issuance of “an arbitrary and capricious programmatic biological opinion governing federally authorized oil and gas activities in the Gulf.” The note indicated that the proceedings were halted as a result of the shutdown of the federal government.

  • October 07, 2025

    Judge Says Biden’s Memos Banning Offshore Fracking Exceeded His Authority

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that memoranda issued during the Biden administration that banned federal oil and gas leasing and development on most of the outer continental shelf (OCS) were “unlawful for exceeding the authority granted” by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

  • October 02, 2025

    White House Council Issues NEPA Guidance To ‘Expedite’ Permitting Process

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has released guidance and a template for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which aim to “expedite and simplify the permitting process” in keeping with President Donald J. Trump’s executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy.”  The guidance replaces previous guidance and takes into account the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County.

  • October 01, 2025

    $15M Deal In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case Endorsed ‘Overwhelmingly,’ Class Says

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 30 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million on grounds that the agreement has been “overwhelmingly endorsed by the Class.”

  • September 26, 2025

    Tribe Appeals Federal Judge’s Denial Of Intervention In Utah Fracking Case

    SALT LAKE CITY — The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a federal judge in Utah ruled that it lacked standing to intervene in a settled case involving Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at a fracking operator’s oil and gas production facilities on the tribe’s reservation.

  • September 25, 2025

    Fracking Outfit: ‘Hit Piece’ By Journalist With ‘Agenda’ Warrants Damages

    PITTSBURGH — A hydraulic fracturing operator has sued a news outlet in Pennsylvania federal court alleging that it is liable for defamation because it published “a hit piece” against the company that was written by “a journalist with a professed agenda” who made “purportedly fact-based statements” that accused the fracking outfit of “such serious business misconduct as alleged fabrication of data and alleged securities market manipulation.”

  • September 24, 2025

    Fracking Operator: Plaintiffs’ Experts Fail Standard Under Rule Of Evidence 702

    PITTSBURGH — A hydraulic fracturing company has filed two reply briefs in Pennsylvania federal court seeking to exclude plaintiffs’ witnesses in a royalty dispute, arguing that neither expert meets the standard for admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.  With regard to one of the experts, Barry Pulliam, the company insists that “given his admittedly questionable expertise,” the plaintiffs’ “attempt to slip Mr. Pulliam’s Count III opinions in the back door through hypotheticals fails.”

  • September 23, 2025

    Federal Agency Says Group Lacks Standing To Challenge Colorado Drilling Permits

    DENVER — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed a reply brief in Colorado federal court arguing that the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) lacks standing to challenge the BLM’s decisions that approved applications for permits to drill (APD) concerning oil and gas development in northeastern Colorado from what are called “Fee/Fee/Fed” wells.

  • September 18, 2025

    Study Shows Groundwater Was Affected By Fracking Overflow Incident In Pennsylvania

    PITTSBURGH — In a study published Sept. 17, researchers at Pittsburgh-based universities have found that evidence related to a “frac-out” event in 2022 in western Pennsylvania resulted in “oil and gas brine contributions to water chemistries as well as fugitive methane with 62% of the well water samples” and geospatial analysis determined that the extent of the water contamination was wider than initially reported.

  • September 17, 2025

    Complaint: Scam Related To Nonexistent Fracking Technology Costs Investors $40M

    TYLER, Texas — A receiver for multiple entities has sued individuals and companies in Texas federal court related to a scheme that defrauded investors out of at least $40 million by selling shares in numerous corporate entities that falsely claimed that they had developed “industry-disrupting technologies,” for hydraulic fracturing operations, as well as for other industries.

  • September 12, 2025

    Judge Denies Fracking Company’s Bid To Dismiss Offshore Drilling Permit Case

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California has denied a hydraulic fracturing operator’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by environmental groups that allege that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is in violation of federal law related to the fracking company’s offshore drilling permit. The judge held that the BOEM’s decision not to require the fracking company to revise its development and production plans (DPPs) does not strip the district court of jurisdiction.

  • September 11, 2025

    Department Of The Interior Seeks To Rescind Biden-Era Land Conservation Rule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on Sept. 11 filed a notice in the Federal Register indicating that it plans to rescind a land conservation rule enacted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during the Biden administration because the rule is “unnecessary and violates existing statutory requirements.” The BLM says that the proposed rescission follows “deep concern” expressed by the energy sector and others that the current rule reduced access to land and “undermined the long-standing multiple-use mandate of the BLM.”

  • September 10, 2025

    Fracking Industry Group: Biden-Era Offshore Fracking Memos Should Not Be Upheld

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — The American Petroleum Institute (API) has filed a brief in Louisiana federal court in the long and winding litigation over offshore hydraulic fracturing activity under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), arguing that there is no sound basis to uphold memoranda that were issued during the Biden administration that ban federal oil and gas leasing and development on most of the outer continental shelf (OCS). In the months since President Donald J. Trump has taken office, his administration has weighed in on the dispute, arguing that if former President Joseph Biden’s withdrawals of certain areas for offshore hydraulic fracturing are found to be permanent, they exceeded his authority under OCSLA.

  • September 08, 2025

    Department Of The Interior Sets Long-Term Federal Fracking Lease Sale Schedule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has announced a long-term schedule for offshore hydraulic fracturing lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Cook Inlet of Alaska that calls for the first sale to be held in December, in keeping with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that was passed July 3.