By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia landowners have secured an agreement from the nation’s largest gas and oil well owner and largest gas producer to pay up to $6.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over thousands of unplugged wells.
Under the agreement, the country’s largest well owner, Diversified Energy Company, and affiliate firms would more than quadruple its commitment to plugging nonproducing wells in West Virginia and five other states, per a court filing.
Alabama-based Diversified and Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp., the country’s largest gas producer, each agreed in a settlement agreement to pay up to $3.25 million into a settlement account.
If the court approves it, the agreement would settle the class-action lawsuit filed in July 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia by landowners in Harrison, Nicholas, Preston and Wetzel counties. The court has yet to rule on the proposed settlement, which was filed last week.
