Frequently Asked Questions

This Mail Notice (“Notice”) is to tell you about the pending Settlement of a class action lawsuit captioned McEvoy v. Diversified Energy and EQT.  In the Action, Plaintiffs alleged that Diversified and EQT engaged in improper transfers of certain oil and gas wells and that Diversified wrongfully utilized land by failing to plug certain non-producing wells, among other things. 

Diversified and EQT challenged Plaintiffs’ claims. Diversified and EQT maintained that the transfer of wells was proper and approved by state regulatory agencies, and that Diversified was complying with state law and consent orders in methodically plugging wells. The Judge has not decided who was right. 

The parties reached a Settlement that is detailed below.  You may be a member of the group of people affected, called the “Settlement Class.” Settlement Class Members are persons and entities that owned or leased—from July 8, 2022, to November 4, 2024—a surface interest in land in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Tennessee, with a Diversified Energy oil and gas well on that land. This Notice gives you a summary of the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement, explains what rights Settlement Class Members have, and helps Settlement Class Members make informed decisions about what action to take. 

Read this Notice so that you can understand what has been settled and to see if you are a part of the group it affects. Then, decide if you want to:

Read on to understand the specifics of the Settlement and what each choice would mean for you. 

Your deadline to opt out: February 18, 2025

Your deadline to object: March 17, 2025
Final Approval Hearing: April 7, 2025

Beginning in 2022, a group of surface owners with Diversified wells on their properties filed a class action lawsuit against Diversified and EQT. 

The Action [available here] alleged that EQT sold approximately 12,000 wells to Diversified, and alleged that Diversified was unable to pay the cost of plugging all of those wells.

The Action also alleged that Diversified was committing trespass on approximately 2,000 well locations because those did not produce gas continuously for a period of twelve months, and alleged that Diversified was negligent in its failure to plug those wells.

Diversified and EQT deny that they did anything wrong. They challenged Plaintiffs’ claims. Diversified and EQT maintain, among other things, that the challenged transactions were entered into at arms-length and in good-faith; that Diversified was solvent at the time of the challenged transactions and remains solvent today; and that Diversified is party to valid, long-term consent orders with state well regulators that outline manageable and sustainable plugging commitments.

In 2024, the parties agreed to settle, which means they have reached an agreement to resolve the Action. Both sides want to avoid the risk and expense of further litigation. 

The Settlement is for all persons and entities that owned or leased any right, title, or interest in the surface of any piece or parcel of land in six states—WV, OH, KY, PA, VA, and TN—who had at least one Diversified Energy oil and gas well on their land at any point from July 8, 2022, to November 4, 2024. The Court has not decided this case in favor of either side.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing to decide whether to approve the Settlement. The hearing will be held at: 

Where:          US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia

                        1125 Chapline Street

                        Wheeling, WV 

When:          10:30 a.m. on April 7, 2025

The Court has directed the parties to provide this Notice about the proposed Settlement Agreement. Because the settlement of a class action decides the rights of all members of the proposed Settlement Class, the Court must give final approval to the Settlement before it can take effect. 

You don’t have to attend, but you may at your own expense. You may also ask the Court for permission to speak and express your opinion about the Settlement. If the Court does not approve the Settlement or the parties decide to end it, it will be void and the lawsuit will continue. The date of the hearing may change without further notice to Settlement Class Members. 

The Settlement has been approved

The Court granted final approval of the settlement on March 28, 2025. The Final Approval Order is available here, and in the Documents section of this website. There were no objections filed, and the effective date of the settlement is April 28, 2025.

The Settlement requires Diversified to plug 2,600 wells in the six affected states through December 31, 2034. Diversified must plug 200 wells in 2025, and the annual requirement will increase periodically, to 325 wells in 2034. If Diversified misses those targets by more than 5% in any year it will be penalized and required to plug additional wells. The plugging schedule and related provisions are available [here].

Diversified has consent orders with state well regulators requiring Diversified to plug a certain number of wells per year for various numbers of years (depending on the State). This Settlement increases the number of wells that Diversified must plug.  To date, Diversified has been meeting or exceeding those state regulatory obligations. As part of the Settlement, Diversified has agreed to plug more wells over the next 10 years than currently required by state regulators. 

Diversified will select the wells to plug. The Settlement does not require that any specific wells be plugged. The wells Diversified selects must be roughly proportional in number (within 17.5%) to the percentage of Diversified’s non-producing wells in each of the six affected states. 

Diversified must plug all selected wells in compliance with applicable state plugging and safety regulations.

Additionally, if a surface owner has a bona fide health, safety, or environmental concern, the surface owner can apply for well-plugging at no cost through an administrator appointed by the Court, provided that the concern is established by a declaration or other written submission. The administrator can require Diversified to plug no more than ten (10) such wells in any one-calendar year period. 

• Surface owners who do not opt out of the Settlement cannot sue Diversified (for a period of ten years) or EQT about well plugging or the failure to plug wells. Surface owners retain the right to individually apply to their state environmental protection agency to request that their well be plugged, to the extent such a process exists under state law. Surface owners also keep the right to sue Diversified if Diversified’s well plugging causes personal injury or property damage. You can read these provisions in detail [here].

The Settlement also requires Diversified and EQT to pay up to $3.25 million each (for a total of up to $6.5 million). Some of this money will pay the cost of notifying Settlement Class Members of the Settlement. It will also be used to pay any attorneys’ fees, costs of the Action, and service awards to Class Representatives approved by the Court. If the Court approves the Settlement and the Settlement takes effect, none of this money will be returned to Diversified and EQT.  

If you have a Diversified well on your property, that well has an “API Number.” You should obtain this API Number from your records or from the placard displayed on the well on your property and enter the API number [API Look up feature] to determine if your well is affected by the lawsuit. If, after inputting your API number, you believe your well is incorrectly excluded from the class, please call (833) 627-3696.

Persons or companies that only own or lease the minerals are not affected by the Settlement at all. Only people or companies who own or lease the surface in WV, OH, KY, PA, VA, or TN on which a Diversified well is located are affected by this settlement.

In a class action, the Court appoints Class Representatives and lawyers to work on the case and represent the interests of all the Settlement Class Members. For this Settlement, the Court has appointed the following individuals and lawyers.

Your lawyers:

Brian A. Glasser

John W. Barrett

Brian R. Swiger

Bailey & Glasser, LLP

209 Capitol Street

Charleston, West Virginia 25301

(304) 345-6555 (Phone)

(304) 342-1110 (Fax)

J. Michael Becher

Joseph M. Lovett

Benjamin Luckett

Amanda Demmerle

Isak Howell

Claire Horan

Appalachian Mountain Advocates

P.O. Box 507

Lewisburg, WV 24901

(304) 645-9006

These are the lawyers who negotiated this Settlement on your behalf. 

If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Lawyers' fees and costs will be paid from the Settlement Account paid by Diversified and EQT. You will not have to pay the lawyers directly.

To date, your lawyers have not been paid any money for their work or the expenses that they have paid for the case. To pay for some of their time and risk in bringing this case without any guarantee of payment unless they were successful, your lawyers will request, as part of the final approval of this Settlement, that the Court approve a payment of up to $6.5 million total for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of 
out-of-pocket expenses, including expert costs. 

Lawyers' fees and expenses will only be awarded if approved by the Court as a fair and reasonable amount. You have the right to object to the lawyers' fees even if you think the Settlement terms are fair.

Your lawyers will also ask the Court to approve a payment of $3,000 each to the Class Representatives for the time and effort they contributed to the case.  If approved by the Court, these payments will be paid from the $6.5 million paid by Diversified and EQT.

You can opt out. If you do, you cannot object to the Settlement. However, you will not be bound or affected by anything that happens in this lawsuit and may be able to file your own case on an individual basis, to the extent you have any claims. 

To opt out of the Settlement, you must complete the request for exclusion included with this Notice and mail it by February 18, 2025, to the Class Notice Agent at:

Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, API number(s) of the well(s) on your surface property affected by this Settlement, and signature. 

If you disagree with any part of the Settlement (including the lawyers' fees) but don’t want to opt out, you may object. You must give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it and say whether your objection applies to just you, a part of the Settlement Class, or the entire Settlement Class. The Court will consider your views. The Court can only approve or deny the Settlement — it cannot change the terms of the Settlement. You may, but don’t need to, hire your own lawyer to help you.

To object, you must send a letter to the Court that:

1. is postmarked by March 17, 2025;
2. includes the case name and number (McEvoy v. Diversified, EQT and 5:22-cv-00171-JPB-JPM);
3. includes your full name, address and telephone number, and email address (if you have one); 
4. includes proof of Settlement Class Membership, including the API Number of the well located on your property, along with reasonable proof (such as tax assessment information or deeds) that you own the surface on which the well is located;
5. states the reasons for your objection;
6. identifies all class actions to which you have previously objected; 
7. says whether either you or your lawyer intend to appear at the final approval hearing and your lawyer's name; 
8. includes copies of all documents you wish to submit in support of your position; and
9. includes your handwritten signature.

Mail the letter to the three following addresses:

If you do nothing, you will be a part of the Settlement Class and be bound by the Settlement and its “release” and covenant not to sue provisions. A full description of the claims and persons who will be released if this Settlement is approved, as well as the covenant not to sue provision, can be found here

This Notice is a summary of the proposed Settlement. The complete Settlement with all its terms can be found here. To get a copy of the Settlement Agreement, update your contact information, or get answers to your questions:

• contact your lawyer (information below)
• visit the case website at decsettlement.com