The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Oklahoma Homeowners Can Sue For Fracking Earthquake Injuries

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Larry Bodine

oklahoma earthquakes

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled in a 7-0 decision to allow homeowners to sue oil companies for injuries and property damage caused by oil fracking earthquakes.

The decision reverses a lower court decision that dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, citing that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) had exclusive jurisdiction over cases concerning oil and gas operations.

Oklahoma earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher since fracking began in 2010.  Image courtesy of http://earthquakes.ok.gov/what-we-know/earthquake-map/

Oklahoma earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher since fracking began in 2010.
Image courtesy of http://earthquakes.ok.gov/what-we-know/earthquake-map/

Sandra Ladra of Prague, Oklahoma, suffered injuries when rock from her two-store fireplace chimney fell onto her during an earthquake.  Ladra filed the lawsuit against the New Dominion and Spess Oil Companies for her injuries caused by the wastewater disposed by the oil fracking operations.

585 earthquakes over 3.0 magnitude in 2014

See also: Ohio Supreme Court Overrides Local Fracking Ban

“Oklahoma has experienced a dramatic increase in the frequency and severity of earthquakes,” according to the court opinion.  In the years before fracking began in Oklahoma in 2010, the state experienced fewer than 30 earthquakes in the near 10-year period beginning in 2000.

A sharp increase in fracking over the past decade has resulted in a massive increase of earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater.  In 2013, the state experienced 109 earthquakes and 585 in 2014.

On the day of Landra’s injury, the earthquake had a 5.0 magnitude.  Ladra appealed the district court decision and Oklahoma supreme court granted review.

Oil companies argued OCC should hear case

The court ruled that the OCC jurisdiction is limited only to public rights and is “without authority to entertain a suit for damages,” said the court.The oil companies argued that allowing district courts to have jurisdiction over this type of matter exerts inappropriate “oversight and control” over the OCC.

The court clarified that the OCC has exclusive jurisdiction over the dwelling, production and operation of the oil wells and fracking.  The OCC is “without authority” to address disputes between two or more persons or entities with no public interest involvement.

“People have been waiting on this decision,” said National Trial Lawyer top 100 attorney Scott Poynter.  Poynter is also proceeding with a class-action lawsuit related to the 2011 earthquakes.

The court reversed and remanded the case back to the district court to be tried.

 

The case is Ladra v. New Dominion, LLC,  Case number 113396 in the Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Posted in Blog, Personal Injury

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the United States has[Read More...]
Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it used recycl[Read More...]
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

DEUTSCHE Bank AG agreed to pay US$130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manip[Read More...]
Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing has agreed to pay just over $2.5 billion to resolve a federal charge of “criminal misconduct” for how its [Read More...]
Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has le[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.