Some may be surprised to learn that the storage and production of natural gas do not always complement one another.  A conflict can occur when one gas company stores its gas by injecting it back into the ground, typically into a depleted gas field.  So long as gas pressure can be maintained underground, the depleted field provides a natural reservoir for storing gas.  If areas of low pressure are created near the storage area, the stored gas tends to migrate toward these areas. The drilling for and extraction of natural gas can create such low pressure zones.  Effectively, production activities near an underground storage area suck the gas away from where it is being stored. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Drilling, Exploration, Marcellus Shale, Natural Gas, Nuisance, Oil and Gas, Storage

A few months ago, we reported on an interesting Seventh Circuit opinion on CERCLA §107 claims issued in the Fox River clean-up litigation in Wisconsin.  The Fox River clean-up, and the ensuing private party litigation, represents one of a number cases that have arisen from EPA’s efforts to remediate water bodies throughout the country that have been declared to be Superfund sites—including the Lower Passaic River and Newark Bay in northern New Jersey, the Hudson River in upstate New York, and the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.  Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Case Update, Cases to Watch, CERCLA, Cleanup, Contamination, Cost Recovery, Decisions of Note, Remediation, Superfund

October Term 2012 gets underway at the U.S. Supreme Court this week, and the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause will be front and center in one of the arguments heard by the Court today.  In Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, No. 11-597, the Justices consider whether government actions that cause recurring flooding on a parcel of land must continue permanently in order to constitute a taking for which the government is obligated to provide just compensation.  The Court’s decision in this case could affect whether a variety of government actions that cause recurring physical invasions of land demand compensation under the U.S. Constitution. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Arkansas, Cases to Watch, Fifth Amendment, Flooding, Supreme Court, Takings Clause