American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015 - 22

IndustryDigest
seeking to pre-empt state oil and gas
regulations. In Morrison, Beck Energy
obtained a permit from the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources in
2011 for drilling, but was blocked when
Munroe Falls implemented a series of
predrilling requirements (AOGR, March
2015, pg. 16).
Ruling March 10 in Bass Energy Inc.
v. City of Broadview Heights, Cuyahoga
County Common Pleas Judge Michael
Astrab cited the February Morrison
decision in striking down the city's
amendment to the city charter voters
approved in November 2012. The
Broadview Heights amendment made it
illegal for any person or corporation to
engage in new oil and gas drilling and
the related maintenance of wells, court
documents state.
Bass Energy filed suit against
Broadview Heights when it refused to
allow drilling on an oil and gas lease on
church property within city limits, say
court filings.
In his ruling, Astrab says that, based
on his analysis of Ohio's home rule
authority and the Ohio Supreme Court's
ruling in Morrison, state law pre-empts
Broadview Heights' ban on drilling.

Shawn Bennett, executive vice
president of the Ohio Oil & Gas
Association, calls the decision a
reaction against the community bill-ofrights initiatives that he says have been
masquerading as a way to ban oil and
gas development.
"The court reiterated that ODNR
maintained sole and exclusive authority
to regulate the permitting and siting of
all oil and gas activities, understanding
that this type of regulation is best left to
the experts. Those experts lie within the
department," he says.
Bennett says he hopes the two
decisions will encourage cities
considering such drilling bans to take a
close look at their legality. He says
many city officials and residents are
listening to the promises of legal advice
and financial support from the
Community Environmental Legal
Defense Fund in enacting the bans, but
are learning how empty those promises
can be when the legal bills come due.
"CELDF promises legal advice, but
it was Broadview Heights that had to
fight this in court," Bennett says.
"When these cases come out, officials
have to see they are the ones who will

be footing the bills to defend these
measures, which really do not pass the
smell test and will be defeated every
time." r

"in" public relations, simply because
everyone in the industry is also part of
"the public." Everyone interacts with
nonindustry people in their dealings
with neighbors, relatives, friends,
contacts, social media contacts, elected
officials, etc.
Some organizations do a very good
job with community outreach.
Anadarko Petroleum recognized that
last year and gave its employees
information so they could feel more
comfortable talking about the benefits
of hydraulic fracturing and the
economic impact the industry had on
local schools and businesses. Cabot Oil
& Gas also does a great job behaving as
a dedicated member of the communities
in which it operates. Frac sand provider
Fairmount Santrol also is a good
example of a company that engages
with and gives back to its communities.
Companies, associations, and others
in the industry should think of
equipping their employees, clients,
vendors and others with tools to help

them spread the positive message of the
industry.
The shale revolution is a great
American success story. Actually, it is
the combination of countless stories.
Companies can pick whichever one
applies to them and run with it.
The story is about small companies
that took risks and changed the industry.
It is about energy independence. Share
it with your extended team. Give them
the tools and encouragement to spread
the great message in the oil and gas
industry.
With the emergence of new media,
there is a huge opportunity for the
industry to share its story, craft the
message, and help the rest of the United
States see what a wonderful, allAmerican story the oil and gas
revolution really is.

Federal Judges Send
Parish Suits To State

NEW ORLEANS-Two federal
judges serving the eastern district court
of Louisiana have ordered
environmental damages lawsuits against
oil and gas companies in Jefferson and
Plaquemines parishes out of the federal
law system and returned to state courts.
The parishes sued several oil and
gas companies, alleging construction
of canals required by their activities
damaged coastal wetlands.
In a series of decisions handed down
in the first quarter of 2015, U.S. District
Court Judges Lance Africk and Ivan
Lemelle held that the cases involved
alleged violations of state permits and
that at least one defendant company was
based in Louisiana, so the cases should
be heard at the state, not federal, level.
Both judges say they based their
decision on a Dec. 2 ruling by U.S.

LETTERS
Dear Editor:

From the White House to the
Republican-led House Committee on
Natural Resources, it is popular to claim
an "all of the above" approach to U.S.
energy policy. It is time the oil and gas
industry embraced an all-of-the-above
approach in its public relations.
For too long, oil and gas companies
of all sizes have neglected to focus on
community engagement and public
relations, believing they can leave it in
the hands of the American Petroleum
Institute, their local associations, or "the
big companies." While these efforts are
paying awareness dividends, more can
be done.
It is time for the industry to turn its
substantial resources toward repairing
its image. By resources, I don't mean
only financial resources (although that
is required), but I mean the industry's
substantial human resources.
Just like "everyone is in marketing,"
absolutely everyone in the industry is
22 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Pete Cook
President
Petroleum Connection
Houston
American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015

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