District Judge Rules Against BIA

On December 21, a ruling in the Northern Oklahoma District Court found several oil leases in Osage County invalid. District Chief Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs Osage Agency did not abide by the National Environmental Policy Act when it approved two oil and gas leases in 2014 for Chaparral Energy, LLC.


Frizzell issued his ruling in the David P. Hayes v. Chaparral Energy, LLC; United States of America; Department of Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs case. According to the ruling the BIA approved two separate drilling permits for Chaparral Energy and sited an Environmental Assessment from 1979, as a blanket survey for Osage County. The ruling therefore declared the drilling permits “void ab initio.”


Void ab Initio means void from the beginning, ruling the oil and gas permits are not valid and should not have been issued. The issue of Environmental Assessments and oil and gas drilling permits continues to be a hot topic with the BIA and Oil Producers and this ruling has added more fuel to the debate. Chaparral Energy is one of few companies still operating in Osage County.


Read more about the ruling and the ongoing debate at www.OsageNews.org