Paul Gutermann Discusses Texas Supreme Court Case on Wastewater Disposal
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Akin Gump environment practice head Paul Gutermann has written an article for Law360 that looks at an issue confronting the Texas Supreme Court involving how energy companies dispose of wastewater in the state.
The article, “Drill Texas Drill!: Surface Rights and Subsurface Effluent,” provides background on Environmental Processing Systems LC v. FPL Farming Ltd., which involves a state-permitted wastewater disposal well, and discusses its implications for oil and gas drilling and “other underground energy disposal measures like carbon capture and sequestration.” Gutermann writes that the issue before the court is “akin to disputes over ‘air rights.’ … [and] whether the migration of wastewater into an unusable brackish aquifer 7,000 feet below the surface is more like an obstruction near the surface or commercial airliners at 20,000 feet.”
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for January 7, 2014.
Please click here to read the full article.