LITEL EXPLORATIONS LLC v. AEGIS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC ET AL (2022)

I respectfully dissent. There is nothing in the law that prevents a well from being both orphaned and an emergency. In this case the well was abandoned before the emergency was declared. The result here means that the Commissioner would be foolish to declare an emergency when a well has been orphaned, hardly the result intended. Some clean-up is needed, both on the ground and in the Legislature.

Hughes, J., dissents.