An oil and gas lease made on a tract of Grady County land lies in the middle of an ethics controversy for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
Justice Alito has been under scrutiny because of some of his recent rulings in favor of the oil and gas industry and against the Environmental Protection Agency. As it turns out, his wife owns a quarter section of land southwest of Minco.
As reported by The Intercept, Martha Ann Bomgardner Alito agreed in June of 2022 to lease the 160 acres to Citizen Energy III, a Tulsa private oil and gas company. The lease agreement stated that 3/16ths of the money made from any oil and gas from the land would go to Martha Alito.
Citizen Energy has been an active driller in Grady County and just completed some wells with production west of Bridge Creek.
The Intercept reported that if there were any oil and gas discovered and produced, it “could amount to a small fortune for the Alito family.”
“There need not be a specific case involving the drilling rights associated with a specific plot of land for Alito to understand what outcomes in environmental cases would buttress his family’s net wealth,” Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the watchdog Revolving Door Project, told The Intercept.
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