Continental Resources loses emissions fight in North Dakota Supreme Court

Oklahoma’s Continental Resources has lost a legal fight in North Dakota, the state where it explored the Bakken and helped turn North Dakota into the country’s No.2 oil producer.

The North Dakota Supreme Court has ruled against Continental Resources in a fight over environmental rules restricting the mission of volatile organic compounds which can contribute to smog. Continental had appealed a District Court ruling in which it challenged the rules of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.

The company had been accused of violating state emissions rules. The DEQ had not taken final administrative determination on the citations against the company.

Continental contended the rules are based on the understanding that flares and other emissions control equipment are not “leakless” and a “very small portion” escape from piping components,” according to a September report by the Grand Forks Herald.

Continental argued state regulators have adopted a new stance by issuing notices of violation “based on the mere presence of an emission from closed tank hatches and control devices, without regard to whether an approved control device was installed and operating.”

“Short of suspending operations completely, these fugitive emissions are unavoidable because, as the department itself recognizes, the leakless technology that would be required does not exist,” the company wrote in its brief to the Supreme Court.

Continental said the DEQ’s “flawed interpretation places a cloud of uncertainty over the compliance status” of more than 1,600 production facilities across the state. The company reported it produced about 149,000 barrels of oil per day in the Bakken during the second quarter of this year.

But in a November 26 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against Continental Resources Inc. stating that the company had not exhausted its administrative remedies with the North Dakota DEQ. Continental had sought a declaratory judgment. The court upheld a lower court ruling that found the same determination.

 

“We conclude Continental’s action for declaratory judgment of the Department’s administrative rule is not ripe for judicial review and we affirm the district court’s judgment dismissing Continental’s action. Having concluded the matter is not ripe for review the remaining arguments and pending motion to dismiss the appeal as moot are unnecessary to our decision,” stated the opinion by Justices Jon J. Jensen, Daniel S. El-Dweek, Dale V. Sandstrom, Daniel J. Crothers and Lisa Fair McEvers.