Drillers Win Dismissal of Fracking-Related Earthquake Case

State regulators are in a better position to deal with fracking-related earthquakes in Oklahoma than the federal courts, the Western District of Oklahoma ruled April 4 (Sierra Club v. Chesapeake Operating, LLC, W.D. Okla., No. 16-cv-00134, 4/4/17).

The ruling dismissing a Sierra Club suit is a victory for Chesapeake Operating LLC and other oil and gas defendants in the case. They argued the federal courts shouldn’t intervene in drilling operations regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

“The record in this case plainly demonstrates that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has responded energetically to that challenge,” the court ...