Ninth Circuit Reverses Montana Trial Court Holding Concerning CWA Regulation of CBM Produced Waters
April 10, 2003
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in North Plains Resource Council v. Fidelity Exploration and Development Company, concerning the regulatory scope of the federal Clean Water Act with regard to coal bed methane produced waters. The Ninth Circuit reversed the Trial Court's decision in the case, holding "that the unaltered groundwater produced in association with methane gas extraction, and discharged into the river, is a pollutant within the meaning of the CWA . . . [and] that states cannot create exemptions to the CWA, whether or not the EPA has delegated permitting authority to the state."
