Oklahoma Supreme Court: Oil companies may be sued for fracking-induced quakes

Oklahoma Supreme Court: Oil companies may be sued for fracking-induced quakes

On 30 June the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that oil companies may be sued over quakes if they can be linked to hydraulic shale fracturing methods, or “fracking.” Numerous scientific studies found a direct link between the increase in fracking activity in Oklahoma and the sharp rise in the number of quakes in Oklahoma, a region which until 2009 was considered seismically stable. The number of earthquake in the state has increased from 1.5 tremblors a year before to 2008, to an average of 2.5 a day, according a report from Richard Andrews, the Oklahoma state geologist.

On 30 June the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that oil companies may be sued over quakes if they can be linked to hydraulic shale fracturing methods, or “fracking.”
As Insurance Journal reports, the court reversed a lower-court decision and threw out a previous ruling, arguing that the issue was a matter for state energy regulators.
Sandra Ladra sued New Dominion and Spess Oil Co. for injuries sustained in her home during a 5.0 magnitude earthquake, which struck in November of 2011. The quake was one of many experienced in the state since 2009, the same year that oil companies began using fracking to extract oil and gas from below the ground. Numerous scientific studies found a direct link between the increase in fracking activity in Oklahoma and the sharp rise in the number of quakes in Oklahoma, a region which until 2009 was considered seismically stable. The number of earthquake in the state has increased from 1.5 tremblors a year before to 2008, to an average of 2.5 a day, according a report from Richard Andrews, the Oklahoma state geologist.
Since 2011, more than twenty lawsuits have been filed against companies such as BHP Billiton, Chesapeake Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, and Sunoco Logistics Partners, alleging that oil company activity has directly led to quakes from Arkansas to Texas.
“I deal with science,” said David Chernicky, the chairman and founder of New Dominion “That’s what this will come down to. Is it about science? Or is it about emotion?”
Chernicky has previously said that the science tying underground oil wells to earthquakes is unreliable.
The state Supreme Court’s reasoning was that the body “is without authority to hear and determine disputes between two or more private persons or entities in which the public interest is not involved.”
Further, the court argued that “a public-rights dispute must arise between government and others, [and] is without the authority to entertain a suit for damages.” It ordered the state district court to begin weighing the merits of Ladra’s case.
Scott Poynter, a spokesman for the woman and her attorney, said Ladra’s case will be “stuck for awhile” if the oil companies seek to appeal.
“People like to say these cases are about fracking but it’s about a byproduct of fracking,” he said.
Ladra has been told she may need replacement knee surgery after damage to her legs from a collapsed living room chimney during the quake.