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Parks Law PLLC – Texas’s Trusted Underground Storage Litigation Attorneys

Underground Storage Litigation: A Comprehensive Guide for Houston, Texas

Underground storage litigation is a complex area of law that deals with a wide range of legal disputes related to the use of underground spaces for storing hazardous substances, petroleum products, natural gas, and wastewater. This type of litigation involves advanced engineering, strict environmental regulations, and deep-rooted property law. It often leads to high-stakes conflicts with technical and legal complexities.

As the practice of underground storage expands, especially in regions like Texas and Houston, where the energy industry plays a major role, it becomes crucial for landowners, energy companies, workers, and communities to understand this legal landscape. Understanding the intersections between property rights, industrial safety, and environmental protection is essential for navigating these issues.

The very geology of Texas, which makes it an energy giant with its vast salt formations and depleted reservoirs and porous rock strata, also makes it a prime location for underground storage. However, the inherent risks associated with storing volatile and toxic substances beneath the earth’s surface pose a persistent potential for conflict. This makes skilled legal counsel not just beneficial, but essential.

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Meet Ryan Parks: Founder & Attorney

What is Underground Storage Litigation?

Underground storage litigation involves legal disputes related to the development, operation, maintenance, or closure of underground storage facilities. These cases are rarely straightforward, as they require interpretation of geological data, engineering standards, and regulatory requirements. The complexity of these cases often leads to “battles of experts,” where the outcome depends on the ability of parties to present and challenge technical evidence related to underground behavior, containment integrity, and contamination transport.

Primary categories of disputes include:

Environmental Damage

Leaks, spills, or migration from Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) or Underground Injection Control (UIC) wells can contaminate soil and groundwater, leading to claims for remediation costs, diminished property value, and loss of use. A particularly insidious issue is the “plume” of contamination that can migrate silently for years before being detected, complicating liability and damage assessments.

Property Rights

The “split estate” doctrine in Texas, which allows mineral rights to be separated from surface ownership, often leads to conflicts. Litigation may arise from disputes over whether a storage facility exceeds the reasonable use allowed by a mineral lease or pipeline easement, or if the underground movement of stored gases or liquids is considered an encroachment on adjacent mineral estates or surface properties.

Regulatory Violations

Operators must comply with a variety of regulations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), as well as federal statutes such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), for oil and gas waste injection. Failure to comply may lead to government enforcement actions and significant penalties. Private “citizen suits” may also be brought against operators to force compliance.

Contractual Disputes

Conflicts often arise between operators and landowners regarding lease terms, between parties involved in joint storage projects, or between operators and service companies due to negligence in well construction, monitoring, or well plugging and abandonment.

Operational Failures & Catastrophic Incidents

This includes litigation arising from well blowouts, salt dome cavern failures, well casing collapses, or migration-induced seismic activity (also known as “induced seismicity”), which are linked to wastewater injection. These events can result in significant personal injury, wrongful death, and large property damage claims.

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    Navigating Underground Storage Litigation in Texas, Houston

    The whole U.S. energy industry revolves around Texas, especially Houston. Energy processing and production are made possible by the large oil and natural gas reserves in the state. However, the unique nature of the tragedy also reflects in the legal issues it could cause if things go wrong.

    Key Factors Influencing Underground Storage Litigation in Texas:

    1. The Dominance of the Split Estate Doctrine: The separation of surface and mineral rights is a major source of conflict. Surface owners may sue for damage caused by subsidence or contamination resulting from storage operations authorized by mineral lessees. Conversely, storage operators may need to argue for their right to use pore space beneath land, which is increasingly recognized as a separate property interest known as “pore space rights”.
    2. Evolving Regulatory Oversight and “Orphaned” Sites: While Texas has robust regulations, the historical legacy of less stringent rules means that many old, poorly documented, or improperly abandoned sites still exist. When contamination is discovered at an “orphaned” facility with a defunct operator, litigation may focus on the corporate liability of the successor, historical insurance policies, or claims against state cleanup funds, adding additional layers of complexity to the process.
    3. Urban Encroachment and Environmental Justice: Houston’s growth has led to residential and commercial development encroaching on industrial areas with underground storage facilities. This creates significant risks for communities living near these areas, known as “fenceline communities”, and raises important issues of environmental justice. Lower-income neighborhoods in these areas may face disproportionate environmental risks. Litigation in such cases often involves novel legal claims related to nuisances, negligence, and even public health concerns.
    4. Geotechnical Evidence in Litigation: The success of a case often hinges on proving what occurred thousands of feet beneath the surface. This requires a deep understanding of subsurface geology, reservoir engineering, and geomechanical principles. Effective legal representation demands lawyers who can guide expert investigations into cave stability, pore pressure, cement bond logs, and corrosion assessments, and then convert these findings into persuasive legal arguments.

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    Common Scenarios in Houston:

    • Salt Cavern Instability and Collapse: The Gulf Coast’s salt domes are valuable for storing natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. However, improper mining or operational pressure can lead to cave roof collapse, well failure, or even catastrophic sinkholes, as seen in historic incidents. This can result in complex litigation that is among the most challenging and financially significant in the industry.
    • Induced Seismic Activity from Wastewater Disposal: Large-scale injections of fracking wastewater into deep disposal wells have been scientifically linked to an increase in earthquake activity in Texas. Property owners are filing lawsuits seeking damages for damaged foundations and decreased property values, claiming that these injection operations are negligent or ultra-hazardous activities.
    • Legacy Contamination from Underground Storage Tanks (USTs): Thousands of old and corroded underground petroleum storage tanks are located beneath Houston’s gas stations, airports, and industrial facilities. These leaking tanks can produce extensive plumes of benzene and MTBE in groundwater, resulting in complex litigation involving multiple parties under state law and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which allocates cleanup costs between current and past property owners and operators.

    Why Choose Parks Law PLLC for Your Underground Storage Litigation Needs?

    At Parks Law PLLC, we specialize in representing clients in litigation related to underground storage in and around Houston, Texas. With decades of experience in the legal field and a strong technical background, our firm provides comprehensive support tailored to each client’s unique needs.

    Our founding attorney, Ryan Parks, is a rare combination of a seasoned litigator and a formally trained petroleum engineer and geologist. This is our defining advantage, as we understand the technical protocols for well integrity testing and the geomechanical models for cavern stability. We also know the industry standards for corrosion prevention, which allows us to identify the exact point of failure and collaborate effectively with technical experts during discovery and trial. We not just hire experts, but guide them with precision and knowledge.

    Underground storage litigation is a complex area that requires not only specialized legal knowledge, but also technical expertise. For individual and corporate clients involved in the fight over underground storage issues in Texas and Houston, collaboration with experienced lawyers is essential. Parks Law PLLC provides not just legal services, but also reassurance based on decades of experience and a genuine interest in serving the energy community.

    If you are experiencing issues related to underground storage, please do not face this challenge alone. Contact Parks Law PLLC today to schedule a consultation and find out how we can help protect your interests. Our team of experts will guide you through the complex process of underground storage litigation to ensure that you receive the resolution that you deserve.


    Common Underground Storage Litigation FAQs

    What is underground storage litigation?

    It involves legal disputes arising from the use of subsurface spaces to store materials like oil, gas, chemicals, or wastewater, often concerning leaks, property damage, or regulatory violations.

    Who might need an underground storage attorney?

    Landowners, mineral rights holders, injured workers, energy companies, and communities affected by contamination, property disputes, or storage facility incidents.

    What are common issues in these cases?

    Frequent problems include groundwater contamination, salt dome integrity failures, pipeline leaks, disputes over surface vs. mineral rights, and regulatory non-compliance.

    Why is this especially relevant in Houston?

    As an energy hub, Houston has a high concentration of salt dome storage, wastewater disposal wells, and related infrastructure, increasing the potential for technical failures and legal disputes.

    How do Texas laws affect these cases?

    Texas’s “split estate” doctrine, which separates surface and mineral rights, along with strict TCEQ regulations, creates a unique legal landscape for underground storage conflicts.

    Why is technical expertise crucial here?

    Effectively proving liability requires understanding geology, engineering, and industry operations—knowledge we leverage from our background in petroleum engineering and geology.

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