Attorney

Elected officials in Cecil Township, PA, voted Monday to have the township solicitor look into mounting a legal challenge to Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale law on the grounds that it usurps local zoning authority.

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a civil lawsuit against the Department of Interior (DOI) over the federal government’s redrawing of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) boundaries that determine how states receive mineral royalties.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, also known as PennFuture, has filed a lawsuit against an Ultra Petroleum subsidiary, alleging that some of the company’s facilities in the Marcellus Shale violate the federal Clean Air Act and state regulations.

Citing his financial ties to the oil and natural gas industry, an attorney with a Washington, DC-based advocacy group has called on the Obama administration to replace the chairman of the subcommittee exploring the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Citing his financial ties to the oil and natural gas industry, an attorney with a Washington, DC-based advocacy group has called on the Obama administration to replace the chairman of the subcommittee exploring the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Following through on his threat, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the federal government last Tuesday for not conducting a full environmental review of proposed regulations for Marcellus Shale development in the Delaware River Basin.

Following through on his threat (see Shale Daily, May 31), New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the federal government Tuesday for not conducting a full environmental review of proposed regulations for Marcellus Shale development in the Delaware River Basin.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will hold another public hearing over plans by XTO Energy Inc., an ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary, to withdraw up to 250,000 gal/d of surface water from a creek in New York for natural gas wells.

Energy industry attorney Joshua Epel has been nominated as chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) after being selected by Gov. John Hickenlooper earlier in April to replace Ronald Binz, whose term expired earlier in the year. The nomination is awaiting confirmation by the Colorado legislature, whose current session ends in mid-May. Epel is currently the assistant general counsel at DCP Midstream LLC, a Denver-based gatherer/processor of natural gas and a 50-50 venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips. Epel is also the chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, a position he will leave if he is confirmed to head the PUC. Hickenlooper said Epel brings a “broad range of experience in energy and environmental policy.” If confirmed, Epel will replace Binz, who was appointed in January 2007 and served past the expiration of this four-year tern, resigning April 8.