Oregon Statutes 520.175 – Injunctions to restrain violation or threatened violation of chapter
(1) Whenever it appears that any person is violating or threatening to violate any provision of this chapter or any rule adopted or order issued under this chapter, the governing board of the State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries may bring an action against such person in the circuit court of any county where the violation occurs or is threatened, to restrain such person from continuing such violation. In any such action, the court shall have jurisdiction to grant to the board, without bond or other undertaking, such temporary restraining orders or final prohibitory and mandatory injunctions as the facts may warrant, including any such orders restraining the movement or disposition of oil or gas.
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 520.175
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Gas: means all natural gas and all other fluid hydrocarbons not defined as oil in subsection (5) of this section, including condensate originally in the gaseous phase in the reservoir. See Oregon Statutes 520.005
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Oil: means crude petroleum oil and all other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, that are produced in liquid form by ordinary production methods, but does not include liquid hydrocarbons that were originally in a gaseous phase in the reservoir. See Oregon Statutes 520.005
- Person: means any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, receiver, guardian, fiduciary, administrator, representative of any kind, or the State of Oregon and any public body as defined in ORS § 174. See Oregon Statutes 520.005
- Violate: includes failure to comply. See Oregon Statutes 174.100
(2) If the board fails to bring an action to enjoin a violation or threatened violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule adopted or order issued under this chapter, within 60 days after receipt of a written request to do so by any person who is or will be adversely affected by such violation, then the person making such request may bring an action to restrain such violation or threatened violation in any court in which the board might have brought such action. The board shall be made a party defendant in such action in addition to the person or persons bringing the action and the action shall proceed and injunctive relief may be granted without bond in the same manner as if the action had been brought by the board. [1953 c.667 § 18; 1979 c.284 § 162; 2007 c.672 § 17]
(Temporary provisions relating to hydraulic fracturing)
Sections 1 to 3, chapter 406, Oregon Laws 2019, provide:
Section 2 of this 2019 Act is added to and made a part of ORS Chapter 520. [2019 c.406 § 1]
(1) A person may not use hydraulic fracturing in the exploration for or the production of oil and gas in this state.
(2) As used in this section, ‘hydraulic fracturing’ means the drilling technique of expanding existing fractures or creating new fractures in rock by injecting water, with or without chemicals, sand or other substances, into or underneath the surface of the rock for the purpose of stimulating oil or gas production. ‘Hydraulic fracturing’ does not mean drilling required for:
(a) Natural gas storage wells;
(b) Geothermal wells or activities related to exploration for geothermal energy; and
(c) Coal bed methane extraction wells in existence as of the effective date of this 2019 Act [June 17, 2019]. [2019 c.406 § 2]
This 2019 Act is repealed on January 2, 2025. [2019 c.406 § 3]
SPACING UNITS