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Mealey's Fracking

  • May 30, 2025

    Young Montana Residents Sue Trump, Federal Agencies For GHG Pollution Exposure

    BUTTE, Mont. — A group of 22 minors and young adults in a May 29 complaint asks a federal judge in Montana to rescind and declare unconstitutional a series of executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump and his administration that include directives to increase fossil fuel production, alleging fossil fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution is “destroying the foundation of” their lives and infringing on their constitutional rights.

  • May 29, 2025

    Magistrate Recommends Granting Judgment To Life Insurer In Row Over $400K Policy

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge on May 28 issued a report and recommendation advising granting default judgment to an insurer in its suit seeking to rescind a $400,000 life insurance policy for alleged policy application material misrepresentations regarding health status, finding that because the allegations in the complaint are deemed admitted by the insured’s default, the insurer is permitted to rescind the policy.

  • May 29, 2025

    High Court Says Lower Court Incorrectly Interpreted NEPA In Fracking Railway Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 29 reversed and remanded a decision by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, finding that when it blocked the construction of a hydraulic fracturing railway project in Utah, it failed to afford the Surface Transportation Board (STB) the substantial judicial deference required in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) cases and incorrectly ruled that the STB was required to consider the environmental consequences of projects that are separate from the construction of the railway.

  • May 27, 2025

    Groups Reiterate Mootness Argument In Dispute Over Federal Offshore Fracking

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — Environmental groups have filed a reply brief in Louisiana federal court reiterating that a case brought by states and hydraulic fracturing industry groups challenging orders issued by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that withdrew offshore waters from oil and gas leasing should be dismissed as moot and arguing that “neither the Plaintiffs nor the government provide any reason to doubt that the questions in this case have become all but academic.”

  • May 22, 2025

    Parties Voluntarily Dismiss Methane Case, Agree With EPA On Lack Of Liability

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Oil and Gas Association (MOGA) on May 21 voluntarily dismissed their methane waste emissions charge lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups in Michigan federal court, saying that in light of the fact that the EPA agrees “that no charge can lawfully be imposed or collected until it takes further, final action to implement the charge,” the chamber of commerce and the oil and gas association “understand that their members have not accrued, and will not accrue, liability” under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

  • May 22, 2025

    Compliance With Fracking Law In Colorado Is ‘Woefully Inadequate,’ Report Says

    DENVER — A report issued by Physicians for Social Responsibility in Colorado, in cooperation with Colorado Sierra Club and FracTracker Alliance, has found that hydraulic fracturing operators’ compliance with a 2022 state law requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking is “woefully inadequate,” and as a result it is unclear whether companies are still using per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

  • May 21, 2025

    Admitting Prior Error, Judge Says Group’s Fracking Lease Challenge Is In Fact Ripe

    SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah has acknowledged “factual errors” in her previous decision regarding an environmental group’s challenge to federal hydraulic fracturing leases and ruled that the claims that she once dismissed are in fact ripe. The judge concluded that because the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) considers the lease approval to be a final agency action, the court should also treat it as such.

  • May 21, 2025

    Energy Company Denies It Breached Lease Related To Drilling, Mineral Rights

    MIDLAND, Texas — An energy company has filed an amended answer in Texas federal court denying the allegations brought in an amended complaint filed by mineral rights owners who contend that the energy company failed to pay compensatory royalties.  The energy company also asserts affirmative defenses and argues that the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

  • May 16, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Derivatives Suit Against Fracking Company

    NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit alleging an energy company’s directors breached their fiduciary duties in overseeing the company’s efforts to comply with environmental laws and regulations after the discovery that its hydraulic fracturing work caused methane gas to leak into residential water supplies in Dimock Township, Pa., agreeing with the trial court’s findings that the directors did not act in bad faith.

  • May 12, 2025

    15 States Say President Trump’s Order Declaring An Energy Emergency Is ‘Unlawful’

    SEATTLE — Fifteen states sued President Donald J. Trump and others on May 9 in Washington federal court arguing that Trump’s executive order titled “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” constitutes an “unlawful use of emergency permitting procedures that bypass critical ecological, historical, and cultural resource review” and that the order “commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations.”

  • May 09, 2025

    Fracking Trade Group Says Groups Lack Standing To Sue Trump Over Alaska Leases

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The American Petroleum Institute (API) has filed an answer as an intervenor defendant in Alaska federal court arguing that the groups that have sued President Donald J. Trump and his administration over his executive order reopening areas of the outer continental shelf for hydraulic fracturing lack standing.

  • May 08, 2025

    Environmental Organizations Sue For FOIA Violations Over Army Corps Energy Records

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two environmental nonprofits want a federal judge to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hand over public records pertaining to regulations and permit applications filed in response to a presidential executive order that aims to address the “inadequate” national supply and capacity of energy and critical minerals, alleging multiple violations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a civil complaint.

  • May 08, 2025

    Fracking Company, Agency Say Pennsylvania Well Permits Were Issued Properly

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — A hydraulic fracturing company filed a reply brief with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), arguing that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law in a dispute with an environmental group over well permits on grounds that it has presented “undisputed material facts” that demonstrate that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decision to issue permits was consistent with applicable law.  The same day, the DEP filed a reply brief, arguing that its statement of undisputed material facts should be deemed admitted, resulting in summary judgment.

  • May 07, 2025

    Pennsylvania Group Says Issues Of Material Fact Exist In Fracking Well Permit Case

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — An environmental group has filed a response brief with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) arguing that the EHB should deny a hydraulic fracturing operator’s motion for summary judgment dismissal in a dispute over well permits, arguing that genuine issues of material fact exist that can be evaluated only after a hearing.

  • May 06, 2025

    State Senator Withdraws Bill That Would Have Reversed Maryland’s Fracking Ban

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The sponsor of a bill that would have reversed the state of Maryland’s ban on hydraulic fracturing has withdrawn the measure.

  • May 06, 2025

    Groups Say Agencies Violated Law When They Extended Offshore Drilling Leases

    LOS ANGELES — Environmental groups have moved in California federal court seeking and order declaring that Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and agencies under his purview violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and other federal laws when they issued lease extensions for 16 offshore oil and gas leases in the Santa Ynez Unit.

  • May 06, 2025

    Plaintiffs: Class Claims In 4th Amended Complaint Against Fracking Firm Are Valid

    CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Plaintiffs have filed a brief in West Virginia federal court contending that it should deny a motion by a hydraulic fracturing operator seeking to strike class allegations from the fourth amended complaint in the parties’ dispute of mineral rights and allegations of breach of contract.  The plaintiffs insist that contrary to the fracking company’s argument, there is no factual or legal basis to strike class allegations and there is no basis to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).

  • May 06, 2025

    Department Of The Interior To Revise Rule For Offshore Drilling Risk Management

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced plans to revise the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 2024“Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant ObligationsRule” and proceed with development of a new rule that the DOI says is “consistent with the Trump administration’s 2020 proposed regulatory framework.”

  • May 02, 2025

    Oil Company Says Contract Does Not Allow Fracking Operator To Charge Penalties

    MIDLAND, Texas — Oil and gas company McCully-Chapman Exploration Inc. (MCE) has filed a reply brief in Texas federal court arguing that it is entitled to summary judgment on its declaratory judgment action against another exploration company, Ovintiv USA Inc., in a mineral rights dispute because the joint operating agreement (JOA) the parties entered into defines a limited geographical area and Ovintiv cannot charge MCE penalties for wells drilled outside that specific area.

  • May 02, 2025

    Investment Firm Says Shale Producers Conspired To Fix Oil Prices, Violated Laws

    CHICAGO — An investment firm has filed a putative class action against multiple oil companies in Illinois federal court alleging that they violated antitrust law and the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by engaging in a conspiracy to coordinate, and ultimately constrain, domestic shale oil production through fixing the price of oil and crude oil futures contracts.

  • May 01, 2025

    EPA, Groups Argue Business Organization’s Challenge To Methane Charge Fails

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups, which are intervenor defendants, on April 30 separately filed briefs in Michigan federal court arguing that it should dismiss a case challenging the constitutionality of the methane waste emissions charge levied under the Clean Air Act (CAA).  The EPA says that without any current or imminent implementing action by the EPA, there is no live case or controversy that is necessary to support Article III jurisdiction, and the groups contend that the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution nullifying the charge moots their suit and deprives them of any present injury.

  • April 30, 2025

    10th Circuit Remands EPA’s Approval Of Colorado’s Air Quality Plan For Emissions

    DENVER — A panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially granted and partially denied an environmental group’s petition for review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action related to Colorado’s state implementation plan (SIP) for keeping air pollutants below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), remanding the issue to the EPA for further explanation of its decision to approve a revised definition of the term “commencement of operation.” The SIP has particular application with regard to emissions associated with hydraulic fracturing activity.

  • April 25, 2025

    6th Circuit Reverses Drilling Dispute Ruling, Says Injunction Improperly Granted

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a federal district court and found that it erred when it granted a hydraulic fracturing company’s motion for a preliminary injunction for conversion that allowed it to initiate the drilling process on property held by a land management company while the parties were still litigating a mineral rights dispute.

  • April 24, 2025

    Secretary Of Interior, Citing Emergency, Slashes Permitting Procedures

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on April 23 announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) “will implement emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals,” which means that new permitting procedures will be reduced from “a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most.”

  • April 23, 2025

    Groups Say Offshore Arctic Drilling Case From Trump’s 1st Term Is Not Moot

    FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Environmental advocacy groups have filed a reply brief in Alaska federal court arguing that it should set aside a ruling from 2021 in which Judge Sharon L. Gleason dismissed as moot a lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump the groups filed during his first term challenging an executive order that opened areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the coast of Alaska for oil and gas drilling.  The groups want the judge to reinstate an order and judgment she issued in 2019 in which she ruled that Trump acted unlawfully when he revoked former President Barack Obama’s permanent withdrawals of portions of Arctic and Atlantic outer continental shelf from future oil leasing.