Drilling impacts lawsuit results in $1 million award
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
A North Dakota hunting ranch is being awarded $1 million due to the Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation Act.
The state law, created in 1979, assures that a mineral developer will pay the property owner a sum equivalent to the cost of damages caused by drilling. In this case, Deadwood Canyon Ranch LLP is seeking $3 million in damages from Fidelity Exploration & Production Co. for oil drilling on the ranch’s property.
According to the owners, drilling has made the ranch’s land industrial because of excess noise, well flares, the smell of gas and tanker trucks driving back and forth on roads to the wells. Deadwood’s owners and Fidelity didn’t come to an agreement on the original contract, but Deadwood’s owners bought the property after the mineral rights had already been sold.
Via: Prairie Business Magazine > $1 M jury award to western ND ranch for oil drilling impacts could cost industry in future
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.