T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK As of Friday, the Omni Energy injection well site at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ohio 331 is scheduled for a sheriff’s sale Thursday, but attorneys continue to debate the issue in the courts.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — New developments have occurred in the Omni Energy Group injection well site at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ohio 331, with the possibility of a sheriff’s sale of the property this week.

According to the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, the sale of the property remains scheduled for sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, but Omni Energy is contesting this.

An earlier sheriff’s sale had been set for May, since Omni had been ordered to pay $463,551.52 to the Falcon Drilling Company. Michael McCormick, the attorney representing Falcon Drilling, said his client was not paid for their work and filed a mechanic’s lien and a foreclosure action of the mechanic’s lien. McCormick said the original lien and lawsuit were filed in 2021, the removal continued into 2022 and was returned to the county, where Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra had made a default judgment in July 2022.

Chris Gagin, the attorney representing Omni, had submitted a motion for entry of a final appealable order and stay of the foreclosure sale.

McCormick said earlier this week the the Seventh District Court of Appeals entered a judgment entry which dismissed the appeal of Omni Energy.

In an email, McCormick wrote that the appeal sought to reverse the judgments in favor of Falcon Drilling Company and prevent the Belmont County Sheriff foreclosure sale of the waste injection well site.

He said if the property does not sell on Aug. 10, an absolute sale of the property is scheduled to occur on Aug. 24.

Gagin emailed a response to questions about the situation.

“It’s not a final judgment,” Gagin wrote. “The Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs failed to properly prepare an order of foreclosure. As such, they dismissed the appeal to allow that to happen. But as a practical matter, as soon as we have a proper order, that will constitute a ‘final appealable order,’ and this case will return to the Seventh District. So, this is a procedural order, not a decision on the merits.”

Gagin also objects to a sheriff’s sale.

“The property cannot legally be sold until there is a valid order of foreclosure,” he wrote. “Plaintiff’s counsel are jumping the gun. They need to complete the process relative to the order, and then Omni will return the matter to the Seventh District. Until that happens, there cannot be a lawful sale.”

McCormick believes the sale will go forward.

“Omni has no good-faith avenues to try to stop the sale, outside of paying off the judgment,” he wrote. “The Court of Appeals has ruled there is no final order in this case that Omni can appeal. Lacking an appeal, Omni has no legal basis to seek a stay of the sale.

“In my opinion, the good-faith application of the law solidly secures the sheriff sale will proceed next week as scheduled,” he wrote. “As I said before, this waste injection well site is like ‘a cat with nine lives,’ but I think this its ninth. Simply put, it appears Omni has run-out of options.”

According to court documents, Gagin has filed a motion to Vavra to delay the sale until there is a valid order of foreclosure. Gagin requested a hearing to resolve the issue in the appeals court’s mandate.

There has been considerable local opposition to an injection well at this location for several years. Local residents, businesses, the Richland Township trustees and others, including Belmont County commissioners, have voiced concerns about potential health and environmental damage and the expected heavy traffic, with many pointing out the presence of residences, businesses and county agencies in the area.

The Richland Township Board of Trustees indefinitely tabled a proposed road use maintenance agreement with Omni in 2019. The late Robert E. “Bob” Murray, who owned the then-Murray Energy Corp. that is now American Consolidated Natural Resources with headquarters nearby, also filed suit in opposition to the well site.