Court OKs Drilling in Chief Logan Park
The state Supreme Court released its decision Nov. 3.
The State Journal
4 November 2010
CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has affirmed a
Logan County Circuit Court decision that would allow the owners of
natural gas under Chief Logan State Park to develop their mineral
interest.
The court ruled on Nov. 3 that the Lawson Heirs, in deeding property in
1960 that became state parkland, retained interest in the gas rights
and that state laws passed prohibiting drilling after that did not
invalidate that transaction. Further, the court said state agencies,
including the state Division of Natural Resources, should not block the
drilling. The family had contacted with Cabot Gas to develop the gas.
“The pivotal question determinative of these consolidated appeals is
this: Does the statutory provision prohibiting the DNR from authorizing
mineral exploitation within West Virginia state parks, i.e., W. Va.
Code § 20-5-2(b)(8), preclude the issuance of the well permits for
which Cabot has applied?,” the court wrote in its decision.
“Simply stated, the answer is ‘no.’ We find that W. Va. Code §
20-5-2(b)(8) has no preclusive effect upon the requested permits herein
insofar as this statutory language was enacted after the 1960 deed
conveying the subject property was executed.”
The state Department of Environmental Protection had challenged the
June 2009 decision of Logan County Judge Roger L. Perry. The Sierra
Club Inc., West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Friends of the
Blackwater and Cordie O. Hudkins, a former state parks official, joined
DEP in the appeal.
“I would call this a victory,” said Larry George, a Charleston
attorney, who represents the Lawson family. “It is a unanimous opinion,
absent Justice (Brent) Benjamin.”
George noted the language in the court’s opinion.
“We further affirm the circuit court's order directing the DEP Office
of Oil and Gas to grant Cabot the five well permits it requested to
allow Cabot to develop the oil and natural gas reserves retained by the
Lawson Heirs in their 1960 deed,” the court wrote.
The Lawson family deeded the land to the Logan Civic Association and
reserved the right to develop the gas under the land. The association
then gave the land to the Conservation Commission of West Virginia, a
predecessor to the Division of Natural Resources, which now oversees
state parks.