Class Action Earthquake Petition Filed By Pawnee County Citizens

A class action petition* has been filed in Pawnee County district court on behalf of Pawnee County citizens stating recent earthquakes were caused by oil and gas companies.

Defendants listed in the petition are Eagle road Oil LLC, Cummings Oil Company, and 25 John Does comprised of other Oklahoma oil and gas companies.

The petition alleges the:

"Defendants introduced contaminants into the natural environment that caused adverse change to it in the form of unnatural seismic activity. In other words, due to Defendants' pollution of the environment they caused man-made earthquakes at issue in this case."

The suit seeks to recover damages in the form of physical damages to real and personal property, market value losses to real property, emotional distress, and punitive distress.

Pawnee lawyer Billy Joe Ellington submitted to petition along with Weitz & Luxenberg, PC, of New York, Poynter Law Group, of Little Rock, Ark., and Steel, Wright, Gray, & Hutchinson, PLLC, of Little Rock, Ark.

*A class action petition must be submitted to the court and certified by a judge in order for it to become a class action lawsuit.