Dozens of Washington, Allegheny landowners file suit against EQT
Scores of property owners in Washington and Allegheny counties are accusing EQT Corp. and subsidiaries of failing to compensate them for decades while it stored natural gas in caverns under their property.
The owners of 97 properties – 38 in Washington and 59 in Allegheny – cited in the federal lawsuit claim that each of their properties lies within the boundaries of one of at least six storage fields EQT uses in Washington, Greene and Allegheny counties.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit accuse EQT of trespassing because it allegedly “is storing and has stored natural gas beneath plaintiffs’ properties or is otherwise using those properties without the owners’ permission.”
They seek an injunction “preventing (EQT) from using their properties to store natural gas and from taking their native gas unless and until defendant enters into an agreement as to the compensation to be paid, acquires its storage rights by contract, or, if no agreement can be reached, completes eminent domain proceedings.”
EQT spokeswoman Linda Robertson said the matter is “pending litigation” and the company is “unable to comment or provide additional information.”
The company’s archipelago of subterranean gas storage fields allegedly extending below the plaintiffs’ properties includes at least six fields in Washington, Greene and Allegheny counties that date back to the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
Those include the Finleyville Field in Washington County; the Tepe Field in Allegheny County; Hunter’s Cave and Swarts and Swarts West Field in Greene County; Pratt Field in Washington and Greene; and Bunola Field in Washington and Allegheny.
The lawsuit was filed July 30 and prepared by attorneys Elizabeth and Louis Tarasi and Jordan Walker. The attorneys wrote that each field is a “naturally occurring geologic formation consisting of porous and permeable rock formations” under the surface.
EQT uses the fields to exploit the natural gas market, injecting gas into them when demand is low and withdrawing it when demand is high. During that process, some “native gas” already present in the formations is also removed.
Under federal law, EQT must obtain a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to use the underground fields to store natural gas. The agency designates specific boundaries that typically include a perimeter or buffer zone, and attorneys for the plaintiffs are including those areas when they refer to the fields in the case.
Once a company receives a certificate it has an obligation under federal law to negotiate with property owners in an attempt to agree on fair compensation or to acquire the storage rights by contract, according to the lawsuit. If the parties can’t reach a deal, the company can use eminent domain to acquire the storage rights.
The boundaries of the storage fields are provided to FERC and to the state but are otherwise shrouded in secrecy, allegedly keeping property owners from knowing for sure if they own land or mineral rights in the boundaries of one of the fields.
The landowners’ attorners wrote EQT allegedly “does not communicate with all property owners within the certificated boundaries of (its) gas storage fields in an effort to reach agreement on the compensation to be paid or to acquire the storage rights by contract, thereby allowing (EQT) to to improperly use the property without paying just compensation.”
Along with a trespass claim, the lawsuit also includes counts of conversion, unjust enrichment and inverse condemnation, and asks that a federal judge issue a declaratory judgment ordering EQT to give the landowners “just compensation” for their properties.