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ARTICLE · 17 FEBRUARY 2015

Texas Supreme Court Sidesteps Subsurface Trespass Issue

Strasburger & Price, L.L.P.
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On February 6, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court released its eagerly awaited opinion in Environmental Processing Systems, L.C. v. FPL Farming, Ltd.

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Jack Carnegie
Jack Carnegie
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Last Friday, February 6, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court released its eagerly awaited opinion in Environmental Processing Systems, L.C. v. FPL Farming, Ltd., 58 Tex. Sup. J. 293 (Tex. 2015). Unfortunately, what many energy companies and landowners had hoped would be the definitive tome on subsurface trespass, was not.

The fracking boom has resulted in renewed interest in the law of subsurface trespass. Not only may fracture treatments extend across property boundaries, but millions of gallons of wastewater that may contain salt, chemicals, heavy metals, and sometimes-radioactive material, is often disposed of by being injected deep underground. This material has the potential to migrate across property lines.

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