District Court Rejects Claim To Aggregate Series Of Compressor Stations

A federal judge in Pennsylvania recently denied an environmental group's attempt to subject a driller's gas compressor stations to stricter regulatory permitting. This decision provides reliable guidance for drillers on the Marcellus Shale Formation in Pennsylvania.

On February 23, 2015, Judge Mariani of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania denied Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future's (PennFuture) claim that Ultra Resources, Inc. (Ultra), was operating its natural gas compressor stations on the Marcellus Shale without the necessary permit. Although Ultra's eight separate compressor stations – facilities that compress and pump gas from the wells to processing facilities – each had general permits, PennFuture claimed that the compressor stations should be aggregated and therefore require a more stringent major source permit. While Ultra had obtained general permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that cover "