Pa. Fracking Trespass Ruling No Clear Win For Drillers - Law360

Matthew Burger, shareholder in the firm's Energy section, comments on the lack of clarity that remains for drillers and landowners after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that shields fracking companies from trespassing liability under certain conditions, but leaves wiggle room for landowners. Read more in Law360's article "Pa. Fracking Trespass Ruling No Clear Win for Drillers."

"It's a bit of a split decision," Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC partner Matthew Burger said. "They pulled back on the idea that there's a per se trespass in cases of fracking, but on the other side of the equation there's the holding that the rule of capture doesn't completely insulate a driller if fracking fluids made their way onto an adjacent property."

And while the Superior Court's decision was prompting industry to reevaluate their practices to ensure wells were drilled far enough from property lines to avoid potential trespassing claims, Burger said the ruling from the justices on Wednesday did little to change the equation on that point.