The following
information is an update of recent, local, state, national, and international
legal developments relevant to shale gas:
North Yorkshire County Council approves UK Third
Energy’s application to perform hydraulic fracturing operations in Northern UK
On May 23, 2016,
the North Yorkshire County Council’s planning committee announced that it
accepted Third’s Energy application to conduct
hydraulic fracturing operations in North Yorkshire, located in Northern UK. In
a Press Release, the North Yorkshire County Council declared that
“the committee has sat for two days and listened to over 100 speakers before
deliberating the planning officer’s report and recommendation to accept Third
Energy’s application” before applauding the efforts made by the company to
mitigate the potential environmental and public health impacts.
Pennsylvania DEP Secretary resigns
On May 20, 2016, Pennsylvania
DEP Secretary John Quigley announced his resignation. In a News Release, Governor Tom Wolf accepted the resignation and
appointed Patrick McDonnell as the Acting Secretary of the department. Patrick
McDonnell was serving as the director of policy for the Pennsylvania DEP prior
to his appointment.
New Texas study examines the causes of earthquake
activity in the state since 1925
On May 18, 2016,
the University of Texas’s Institute for Geophysics at Austin and the Southern
Methodist University’s Huffington Department of Earth Sciences released a study
entitled “A Historical Review of Induced Earthquakes in Texas” published in the
Seismological Research Letters. Researchers used a five-question test to
classify individual seismic events as “tectonic,” “possibly induced,” “probably
induced,” or “almost certainly induced.” They found that 26% of seismic events
are “almost certainly induced,” 33% are “probably induced,” 28% are “possibly
induced,” and 13% are “tectonic” earthquakes.
Mineral rights owner brings action against the
Delaware River Basin Commission over a six-year drilling moratorium in the
Delaware River Basin
On May 17, 2016,
Wayne Land and Mineral Group (WLMG), LLC, filed a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission in the
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania challenging the
Commission’s authority over natural gas well pads in the Delaware River Basin
pursuant to Section 3.8 of the Delaware River Basin Compact. WLMG alleged that
“as a result of the Commission’s unlawful assertion of jurisdiction, WLMG is
unable to develop a Well Pad on [its] property and to thereby recoup its upfront costs and earn a
reasonable return on its investment.” The case is currently pending at docket
no. 3:16-cv-00897.
California Grand Jury charges pipeline company with 46 criminal counts
over pipeline failure near Santa Barbara
On May 16, 2016, a California grand
jury charged Plains All American Pipeline L.P. with 46 criminal counts
associated with the failure and spill of the Line 901 pipeline near Santa
Barbara, California. Oceanfront Real Property Owners have filed a class action
lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against
the company on June 23, 2015 alleging that “defendants wantonly disregarded the
health and safety of the people and environment by operating a pipeline it knew
did not have proper safety systems in place.” More information on the case
Alexandra B. Geremia v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. et al is available
at docket no. 2:15-cv-04759.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
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