Today, the parties in a dispute over an oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area went back to court after failing to reach a settlement. The case has been paused since December, when Louisiana leaseholder Solenex and the Interior Department asked a federal judge for time to work on settling the issue outside of court.
Today, Attorney Tim Preso with the environmental law firm Earthjustice says a settlement didn’t happen.
“I think it is fair to assume that their determination that they want to move forward with briefing indicates that settlement discussions have stopped.”
Today, Solenex and the U.S. Justice Department asked the D.C. District Court judge to lift the stay on the case.
If the judge approves that request, Solenex will have seven days to respond to the Interior Department’s notice from November that it intends to cancel the company’s lease.
“Solenex will file a response to the Interior Department's determination about lease cancellation. What exactly Solenex will say in that response, we will have to wait and see.”
In response to Montana Public Radio's request for comment about why a settlement wasn’t reached, Solenex’s lawyers said, “Solenex will respond to the federal government November 23 memorandum within seven days after the stay is lifted.”
