State ex rel. Youngstown v. Mahoning County Board of Elections
The Ohio Supreme Court held that a local election board exceeded its statutory authority when it refused to certify a city's proposed ballot measure that would, among other things, ban hydraulic fracturing within city limits and create a civil cause of action for damages to be brought in the name of...
Smith v. ConocoPhilips Pipe Line Co.
The Eighth Circuit reversed a lower court decision certifying as a class a group of homeowners alleging nuisance claims against an oil company that owns a nearby contaminated site. A pipeline leak was discovered under the site in the 1960s, and while the leak was repaired, the contamination was neve...
Application of North Dakota Pipeline Co.
A Minnesota appellate court held that the state's public utilities commission will need to prepare an EIS under the Minnesota Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) before it can make a final decision on whether to grant or deny a certificate of need for a large oil pipeline. A pipeline company filed appli...
Gorsline v. Board of Supervisors of Fairfield Township
A Pennsylvania appellate court reversed a lower court order denying an energy company's application to construct and operate a natural gas well on land it has leased from a private landowner. The local board had granted the company a conditional use permit for the well, but the lower court set it as...