ST. MARYS – A group of Pleasants County landowners are suing a in a dispute surrounding oil and gas leases.
Larry O. Barnhart, Brenda L. Barnhart, Jesse M. Barnhart, Judith K. Barnhart and Rockford Energy LLC filed a lawsuit March 29 in Pleasants Circuit Court against The First National Bank of St. Marys, William Carryl Triplett, Triad Hunter LLC, Millennium Energy LLC, R.L. Zickenfoose and William F. Zickenfoose.
According to the complaint, the Barnharts have inherited an interest in the oil and gas leases of a 58-acre tract of land in Pleasants County, tracing their ownership back to an 1898 deed. The suit seeks to affirm their ownership and to clarify that the current leases in place are the only claims the defendants have to the oil or gas currently produced.
The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment affirming their ownership of the land in question and the validity of the current leases, as well as the invalidation of earlier leases that have expired. They are represented by attorney Thomas J. O’Neill of Buckhannon.
Pleasants Circuit Court Case number 16-C-11