Ken Ward Jr. covers the environment, workplace safety, and energy, with a focus on coal and natural gas, for the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
The court has upheld a ruling preventing gas companies from prospecting on people's land without permission, but threw out a series of lawsuits complaining of the nuisance created by their operations.
After a federal appeals court blocked a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the state's Department of Environmental Protection is changing standards to subvert the ruling.
Justice Beth Walker voted to re-open an already decided case around the time her husband owned stock in a variety of energy companies. And that's not even why she's been impeached.
It's the second time in two years that the judge has overruled efforts by Fayette leaders to protect their county from what they view as the negative effects of West Virginia's natural gas industry.
At least one member of the state’s trade delegation who helped negotiate the deal—a gas industry executive—was also working to help his private company on the trip.
