{"id":12413,"date":"2014-03-28T20:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T20:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=12413"},"modified":"2014-04-02T18:13:23","modified_gmt":"2014-04-02T18:13:23","slug":"court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/03\/28\/court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist\/","title":{"rendered":"Court revises injunction against ‘fractivist’"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY STACI WILSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gas opponent Vera Scroggins and her legal team were in Susquehanna County Court on Monday asking the judge to throw out the preliminary injunction that barred her from entering onto one drilling company\u2019s leased lands.<\/p>\n

After a revised order was handed down Thursday, the preliminary injunction remains in place but with modifications that seem to have generally satisfied both the fractivist and the driller.<\/p>\n

President Judge Kenneth Seamans determined that a preliminary injunction was necessary in the case brought by Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation against the anti-gas activist.<\/p>\n

The more detailed and specific order keeps Scroggins\u2019 from going onto property owned by Cabot or its subsidiary GasSearch Drilling Services Corporation and also prohibits Scroggins from entering onto Cabot\u2019s access roads, well pads, and sets a 100-foot buffer from any well pad.<\/p>\n

Scroggins claimed the initial preliminary injunction kept her from visiting the homes of her friends, the local hospital, a grocery store and the county recycling facility – all of which are located on land leased by Cabot, the largest natural gas leaseholder in Susquehanna County.<\/p>\n

Cabot attorneys told the court on Monday their intent in seeking the injunction was to keep Scroggins\u2019 from coming onto, and bringing tour groups, to active sites in various stages of well development.<\/p>\n

According to a court document filed by the company on Monday, after Scroggins raised concerns regarding the scope of the initial preliminary injunction: \u201cCabot\u2019s counsel engaged in extensive discussion with (Scroggins\u2019) counsel for months about way to reword the Orders to protect Cabot\u2019s property rights while still allowing Ms. Scroggins to visit friends\u2019 homes and businesses located on Cabot-leased properties where there are no ongoing operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scroggins refused the offers made earlier this year to limit the scope of the injunction. Cabot attorney Amy Barrette told the court Monday, adding that Scroggins\u2019 \u201cextreme position was a means to generate publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabot filed for the preliminary injunction against Scroggins last year following what the company alleges were repeated trespasses by her onto their access roads, well pads and completed sites.<\/p>\n

At a press conference following the March 24 hearing, Scroggins told reporters that she has led hundreds of \u201ccitizen tours\u201d to drill sites in Susquehanna County.<\/p>\n

At the October hearing, Barrette told the court that Scroggins had brought a tour bus of people with the bus driving onto the well pad while \u201cflaring\u201d of the gas well was taking place.<\/p>\n

Cabot spokesman George Stark said, \u201cCabot is satisfied by the court\u2019s decision to maintain an injunction against Ms. Scroggins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scroggins\u2019 attorney, Scott Michelman of Public Citizen, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., said the revised preliminary injunction was substantial and \u201cis a major victory for Vera Scroggins,\u201d with his client \u201cobtaining about 90 percent\u201d of what they sought.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201c(Scroggins) beat back Cabot\u2019s suggestion to impose buffer zone of 150 and even 500 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s revision is a victory for the rights of advocates like Ms. Scroggins and shows that big gas companies like Cabot can\u2019t punish advocates for their speech,\u201d Michelman said.<\/p>\n

But, the attorney said, there are still some restrictions on Scroggins\u2019 movement as it relates to the gas driller\u2019s active operations and some points in the conditions of the injunction that he feels are overly broad.<\/p>\n

In addition to Michelman, Scroggins is also represented by Gerald Kinchy, of Sayre, and Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

In a three-page opinion handed down with the order, the court said the preliminary injunction keeping Scroggins from Cabot land and active operational sites is necessary: \u201cGreater injury would result from refusing an injunction than granting it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stark said, \u201cCabot has maintained a safety-first policy and will ensure it abides by the Judge\u2019s ruling which prohibits Ms. Scroggins from trespassing on our active worksites.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge also noted in the opinion that Scroggins, \u201cwould still have plenty of geographical space in which to protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wrongful conduct of unpermitted entry by Defendant Scroggins is manifest \u2013 well documented,\u201d the court opinion reads. \u201cAs such, we find that Cabot is likely to prevail on the merits of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the opinion, the judge also noted that the amended injunction will provide for the safety of Cabot and GDS workers, as well as for Scroggins\u2019 safety; and landowners with leases with Cabot will \u201cbetter have their private property rights maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabot agreed. Stark said, \u201cThe court\u2019s ruling not only protects Cabot and its employees, contractors and others but it keeps landowners from being exposed to liability that could arise from Scroggins\u2019 actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Cabot and GDS owned properties, the revised preliminary injunction order also prohibits Scroggins from entering onto well pads in Susquehanna County where Cabot or GDS \u201care conducting surface operations whatsoever\u201d or are maintaining a gas well that is in production.<\/p>\n

According to the order, Cabot must mark the well pad locations with \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d signage at the access roads\u2019 entrances to the sites, and signs that restrict access to authorized personnel only.<\/p>\n

In court, Michelman argued that in some cases, a buffer could keep his client from traveling on public roads.<\/p>\n

Judge Seamans addressed that exact point: \u201cDefendant Vera Scroggins is not by virtue of this provision prohibited from traveling upon public roads but shall not stop or remain present upon the highway and\/or rights-of-way adjacent thereto within one hundred feet (100\u2019) on each side of the entry to the access road\u2026 except for bona fide emergencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cabot attorney Amy Barrette argued in October that Scroggins\u2019 had parked her vehicle on and near access roads, blocking truck traffic entering and exiting well sites.<\/p>\n

The court also noted that certain statutory prohibitions exist as to parking or leaving unattended vehicles on private property, and that vehicles obstructing traffic may be removed.<\/p>\n

The order also prohibits Scroggins from coming into physical contact with equipment, vehicle or structures owned by Cabot or GDS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY STACI WILSON Gas opponent Vera Scroggins and her legal team were in Susquehanna County Court on Monday asking the judge to throw out the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt revises injunction against 'fractivist' - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/03\/28\/court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court revises injunction against 'fractivist' - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY STACI WILSON Gas opponent Vera Scroggins and her legal team were in Susquehanna County Court on Monday asking the judge to throw out the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/03\/28\/court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-28T20:30:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-02T18:13:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/03\/28\/court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/03\/28\/court-revises-injunction-against-fractivist\/\",\"name\":\"Court revises injunction against 'fractivist' - 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