CLAIMANTS MAY SUE INDUSTRY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM EARTHQUAKES

On June 30, 2015, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in Sandra Ladra v. New Dominion LLC, Spess Oil Co. [and other unnamed companies], that Plaintiff could sue operators of wastewater injection wells in and around Lincoln County, Oklahoma, for personal injury damages resulting from injuries she suffered from an earthquake while in her Lincoln County home. Plaintiff claimed that the Defendants’ high-pressure disposal wells were responsible for the earthquake. The Court rejected the argument that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (Oil and Gas Conservation Division) had exclusive jurisdiction and held that allowing “district courts to have jurisdiction in these types of private matters does not exert inappropriate ‘oversight and control’ over the OCC,” and that it “conforms to the long-held rule that district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over private tort actions when regulated oil and gas operations are at issue.” The Oklahoma Court’s ruling also supports a finding of district court jurisdiction in a similar class action suit brought by representative plaintiff Jennifer Lin Cooper against New Dominion LLC, Spess Oil Co., and other unnamed companies which was also filed in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, earlier this year. Since the Oklahoma Court’s June ruling, the OCC and some industry members have taken preventative and regulatory steps to avoid or mitigate seismic activity.

In Colorado there have been several seismic events related to oil and gas activities, particularly near Greeley and Trinidad. Since 2011, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has engaged in rule-making that has increased regulatory requirements with respect to hydraulic fracturing and disposal activities. The COGCC now has enhanced technical, bonding and insurance requirements as well as geophysical reporting and seismic monitoring. The COGCC has also taken steps to shut down injection wells utilizing a ‘stoplight system’ – if a seismic event is only a magnitude 1 to 2 on the Richter Scale, underground injections wells may receive a green light from the COGCC; if the seismic activity is rated at M2 but below M5, a modified operations amber light may be given; and, if the seismic activity is measured at M5 or more, underground well operations are suspended and red-lighted by the COGCC.

Like Oklahoma, it is the Colorado courts that have jurisdiction to address private claimants’ damages claims based on concussion-related damage or injury. Moreover, Colorado law imposes strict liability for concussion damage and proscribes the outsourcing of liability. Thus, Colorado provides claimants with broad, direct damages relief. For a further discussion, see Richards, Emery Gullickson, “Finding Fault: Induced Earthquake Liability and Regulation,” COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, 1 April 2015.