What Is Fault?
Fault is when an entity intentionally or negligently fails to act reasonably, according to legal standards or one’s duty, resulting in harm to another person. This failure can arise from various factors such as ignorance, carelessness, negligence, or a lack of skill. If actions like not being aware, not taking proper precautions, disregarding others, or lacking necessary skills lead to injury to another person, they can all be considered as fault.
Legal scholar John C. Jeffries Jr. states, “Fault is the linchpin of tort liability.” Fault plays a crucial role in various aspects of law, including tort law (civil wrongs), contract disputes, and criminal law. Establishing fault is essential in legal proceedings to determine liability and to assess damages or penalties accordingly.
Fault forms the basis for legal liability and compensation. For example, in a car accident case, fault may be assigned based on factors like speeding, failure to yield, or distracted driving. For plaintiffs seeking damages, proving fault is essential to demonstrate that the defendant’s actions or negligence directly caused their injuries or losses. Conversely, defendants may argue mitigating circumstances or lack of fault to defend against legal claims.
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Marcellus Shale Drilling Goes International
As companies discover how lucrative the Marcellus Shale region has become, more and more are trying to buy a stake to the rights of the mineral-rich property. Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s largest private-sector company, has just acquired a 60 percent stake in 104,400 Marcellus acres in central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
Reliance, which has already invested $3 billion in the purchase of shale-gas assets in Pennsylvania, believes they could yield close to 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas. They also anticipate drilling 1,000 wells in the area over the next decade.
Other international investors include companies from France, Norway and Japan.
If you are a property owner whose property has been harmed by natural gas exploration, talk to an attorney who is experienced in Marcellus Gas drilling issues. The attorneys at Munley, Munley & Cartwright represent victims who have been injured through no fault of their own, […]
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Hazelton City Authority Investigates Drilling Rights
The chairman of the Hazelton City Authority (HCA), Phil Andras, is investigating the process of the Marcellus Shale drilling that could soon be moving into the area. Andras wants to ensure that they have the mineral rights for the 7,000 acres that the town currently owns, understand the steps needed to preserve the watershed and “spend some time learning more about the process and about the protections with the state and federal (environmental agencies).”
Andras has proposed enforcing a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling on HCA land until the drilling companies can prove “with a very high degree of certainty” that their operations are safe and would have no adverse environmental impact.
Another authority member, Dick Ammon agrees with Andras saying, “we want to make sure whatever’s done, we won’t pay a price down the road.” HCA members have said they are not against drilling, but they do want to ensure their watershed is protected. […]
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Over 1,400 Marcellus Shale Drilling Violations in PA
According to a report released by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, drillers in the Marcellus Shale region of the Keystone state have amassed 1,435 violations. The information, based on data between 1/1/2008 and 7/25/2010 from the PA Department of Environmental Protection, identifies 952 of the violations which were judged as having the most potential for direct impact on the environment.
The violations were issued to 43 different drilling companies and included violations such as: Violations of Pennsylvania’s Clean Stream Law, Discharge of Industrial Waste, Improper Construction of Waste Water Impoundments, Inadequate Blowout Prevention, and Improper Construction of Waste Water Impoundments.
Most of the violations, 277 of them, were cited for Improper Erosion & Sediment Plans Developed / Implemented. The report states that Marcellus Shale natural gas well construction requires careful adherence to the implementation of erosion and sediment plans to minimize erosion that could cause harm to the streams and rivers. […]
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Pooling May be Forced on Marcellus Shale Area Residents
The Marcellus Shale natural gas industry is lobbying for legislation that would force property owners in the Marcellus Shale region to allow drilling for natural gas on their land if other property owners approve the request but they refuse. Referred to as “forced pooling,” the pooling order would set forth the terms and conditions of the forced lease, such as compensation for the reluctant property owner.
The purpose of pooling is to group adjoining mineral rights leases to form a larger drilling unit, and according to the industry, results in more economical drilling. Property owners with mineral rights would lease his or her interest in exchange for a royalty share. In Pennsylvania, the industry wants to add the statute to the severance tax to be adopted by the state.
If you are a property owner and you are opposed to drilling on your property, […]
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Pennsylvania DEP Launches the Marcellus Shale Examiner
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has launched the “Marcellus Shale Examiner,” a weekly e-newsletter to chronicle the latest news on Marcellus Shale activities. The DEP states, “In the past three years, Pennsylvania has become the epicenter of natural gas exploration with dozens of companies seeking to capitalize on the abundant natural resources in the Marcellus Shale formation. The consequences of this rapidly growing industry affect us all.”
The DEP will use the Examiner to follow the work related to drilling in Pennsylvania the policy makers will be focusing on in the coming months. The policies will range from enacting a severance tax so large drilling firms pay their fair share, to writing laws that could affect landowners’ rights when it comes to drilling on or under their property.
If you are a property owner whose property has been harmed by natural gas exploration, […]
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Natural Gas Company Boosts Production
With the help of the Marcellus Shale natural gas wells, Range Resources boosted their second quarter natural gas production by close to 10 percent. The gas company based in Fort Worth, Texas, produced an average of 472 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, largely driven by production from the Marcellus shale region.
Range Resources focuses their drilling on “unconventional resource plays targeting shales, coal bed methane and tight oil and gas reservoirs.” The company began drilling in the Marcellus Shale region, which covers parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Virginia, in 2004, and by mid-2009, Range Resources completed their 50thhorizontal well in the Marcellus Shale. To date, there are 146 wells drilled in the region.
Range Resources estimates that the Marcellus wells are as good as, and potentially better than the production in the North Texas Barnett Shale. […]
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Hearings to Focus on Marcellus Shale Drilling Moratorium
The Delaware River Basin Commission will hold public hearings in northeast Pennsylvania to determine whether or not to strengthen its moratorium on drilling for natural gas in the river basin. The debate centers on landowners that say they should be able to lease the mineral rights to their land, versus the environmentalists that say the process of drilling for natural gas could pollute groundwater.
The vast Marcellus Shale formation and its lucrative natural gas deposits underlie much of the covered region of the Delaware River basin areas of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The agency has legal authority over water quality and quantity issues in the basin.
The drilling moratorium is in effect until the commission adopts gas drilling regulations.
If you are a property owner whose property has been harmed by natural gas exploration, talk to an attorney who is experienced in Marcellus Gas drilling issues. […]
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Gas Drilling in Williamsport Featured in New York Times
The gas industry has brought big changes to some of the small towns in our area. One such town is Williamsport, PA, the subject of a recent New York Times story about how the drilling industry has affected the people who live there. Many residents are experiencing immediate economic benefits, but are concerned about the long-term effects.
Williamsport and several neighboring communities have attracted gas companies interested in drilling into Marcellus Shale, a geographic region rich with natural gas that stretches through West Virginia, eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania and into southern New York. The shale contains enough natural gas to meet much of the energy needs of the entire Northeast region.
Drilling could bring much-needed money and jobs into the region, but the industrial process of extracting natural gas has raised concerns about the environmental impact, the New York Times reports, as well as questions about the need for greater regulation of the drilling operations in the area. […]
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Uneasiness Persists About Marcellus Shale Operations
Some Pennsylvania property owners don’t like the idea of living next to a drilling rig and want their local governments to use zoning regulations to prevent the development of natural gas wells.
But local government leaders’ hands are tied to a great extent by a state law called the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act. The state law preempts local regulation of gas wells and extraction and gives the regulatory authority to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Local regulations may not apply to the location of a well, well site safety or even protection of the water supply.
The pressing questions of which local municipal regulations still apply and which are preempted are still being sorted out by the courts.
Natural gas drilling and extraction from the Marcellus Shale poses rewards and hazards for Pennsylvania communities. While there is the potential for significant economic benefit, […]
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$2.6M Medical Malpractice Verdict In Bethlehem
Doctor at fault for cancer misdiagnosis
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the United States, and failure to properly diagnose this disease can be devastating – even fatal – to the patient. When this happens, it may result in a medical malpractice charge against the healthcare givers.
A ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ended a two-and-a-half year journey through the state courts for a $2.6 million medical malpractice verdict against St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network and one of its gynecologists.
The case was filed in Lehigh County; the plaintiff alleged that her doctor breached the standard of care when he did not advise her to have a biopsy on what turned out to be a cancerous lump in one of her breasts.
Our attorneys have decades of experience handling complex medical malpractice cases. […]
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