On August 30, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a district court’s decision striking down a Fayette County, WV ordinance prohibiting wastewater injection. EQT Production Company challenged the ordinance—which restricted “storage, treatment, injection, process or permanent disposal” of wastewater within the county, including specifically, the use of injection wells for permanent disposal—on grounds that it was preempted by the State of West Virginia’s injection well regulatory program. Affirming the district court’s judgment in favor of EQT, the court of appeals held that "the West Virginia legislature, in enacting its complex regulatory program for injection wells, did not leave counties with the authority to nullify [injection well] permits issued by the state.”
Read the case here.