A unit of Chesapeake Energy Corp. has won a victory in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit about its rights to drill natural gas wells and use open waste pits on private property because the operator had all of the needed permits in place from West Virginia regulators.

The case concerns the rights of landowners Martin and Lisa Whiteman in Wetzel County, who live on and farm the acreage in question primarily by raising sheep and producing hay. Chesapeake Appalachia LLC owns the mineral rights to the subsurface and sought permits to explore minerals beneath some of the acreage.

The family filed a lawsuit, originally in the Circuit Court of Wetzel County, which subsequently was moved to the Fourth Circuit because federal issues were involved. The Whitemans asked for monetary damages from the drilling and open waste pit operations.

However, the Fourth Circuit panel said there was no argument to be made for the plaintiffs (Martin Whiteman et al v Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 12-1790).

Chesapeake, the court said, had valid permits. It also notified the Whitemans and provided the permits before drilling began. Once the three wells were drilled, it complied with the permit regulations and remediated the land. Chesapeake removed the plastic liners from the waste pits it had constructed, mixed the waste with “clean” dirt and then compacted and covered the pits, the court said. Sediment control barriers also were put in place.

According to the panel, the Whitemans admitted in testimony that their losses from not being able to use the remediated 10 acres were “trivial” and of little monetary consequence.