American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 17

IndustryDigest
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise
Baxter concurred, and in her decision
granted Seneca's motion for judgment
on six of its nine counts, which included
a determination that the federal Safe
Drinking Water Act and Pennsylvania's
Act 13 both pre-empt the charter's
substantive provisions. The ruling also
says the charter violates the company's
constitutional and due process rights,
and constitutes an "irrational and
arbitrary" act.
Media reports point out that none of
the township's board of supervisors had
any role in the charter's adoption and
declined to defend the measure. A
township ordinance banning wastewater
injection wells was dissolved in August
2016, when the company and the
township's board of supervisors signed
a consent decree overturning the
ordinance (AOGR, Sept. 2016, pg. 14).
Two nonprofit organizations-
Citizens Advocating a Clean Healthy
Environment and Crystal Spring
Ecosystem, and the Highland Township
Municipal Authority-petitioned the
court to intervene on the charter's
behalf, but the judge found that neither
organization demonstrated that it would
suffer concrete harm if the charter was
repealed.
"The township defendants filed an
answer to the complaint wherein they
admitted the majority of Seneca
Resources' claims, including the
unconstitutionality and unenforceability
of the charter," the ruling states. "This
court could not locate precedent for
situations such as this case where a
plaintiff has filed the motion and
defendants do not oppose, and indeed,
actively concur in the plaintiff's
motion." r

Colorado Associations
Sue City Over Local Rules
DENVER-The Colorado Oil & Gas
Association and the Colorado Petroleum Council are suing the city of Thornton, Co., for adopting oil and gas rules
that the groups deem are at odds with
state and federal law.
Although Thornton has not experienced any new oil and gas activity in
some time, COGA has expressed concern about the precedent that such local
regulations may set (AOGR, October
2017, page 98). The association points

out that the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission and the assistant
attorney general assigned to COGCC
also have expressed doubts in public
and in writing about the rules' legality.
"Thornton's City Council passed illegal energy regulations in August after an
extremely limited stakeholder process,"
recounts COGA President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Haley. "COGA and
other willing contributors were given little to no opportunity to offer feedback
on the proposed rules. Still, to avoid litigation, we submitted multiple letters articulating serious legal concerns with
Thornton's proposed regulations, particularly regarding operational pre-emption. Those concerns were ignored, making it necessary to challenge Thornton's
regulations in court."
According to COGA, among the
components of the rule with which the
suit takes issue is Thornton's attempt to
require well pads or production facilities to be set back 750 feet from existing or planned homes, in contrast to the
state's 500-foot setback. Thornton's regulations also establish 500-foot setbacks
between oil and gas operations and bodies of water or irrigation ditches. COGA
says the litigation also claims Thornton's standards clash with state and federal requirements by requiring gathering
lines to:
* Have an "integrity management

plan;"
* Be marked every 100 feet with a
city-approved marker;
* Have automatic shut-off valves or
remote control valves;
* Be equipped with computerized
monitoring and leak detection.
Haley notes that active drilling along
Colorado's Front Range has been ongoing for more than a century, and describes Colorado as one of the country's
most prolific-and most regulated-natural resource basins.
"As Colorado communities grow and
expand, it is important to keep in mind
where our natural resources exist, the
value development provides our economy and our national security, and the respect we must have for individual property rights on the surface and below," he
advises. "Working together with these
factors in mind would improve the likelihood for broad stakeholder success,
and limit the likelihood for expensive
litigation funded on the backs of taxpayers." r

Ohio High Court Rejects
Anti-Fracture Ordinance
COLUMBUS, OH.-The Ohio
Supreme Court says the Mahoning
County Board of Elections acted
correctly when it rejected a pair of

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017

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