A Winfield Township couple is suing an affiliated group of natural gas and pipeline construction companies claiming they built a pipeline on their property without their permission in 2020.

Joseph and Michelle Zandarski, of Cabot, filed the original suit against the companies in January 2022 and filed an amended suit in November 2022 in Common Pleas Court in Allegheny County.

Named in the suit are Penn Energy Resources of Allegheny County; Pine Run Midstream LLC and its owner Pine Run Gathering LLC, both of Wilmington, Del.; Stonehenge Energy Resource Holdings and UGI Pine Run LLC, also of Wilmington, which owns Pine Run Gathering; PER Manager LLC of Wilmington, which is also owned by Stonehenge and UGI Pine Run; UGI Energy Services of Wilmington; and UGI Corporation, which owns UGI Energy Services, UGI Pine Run, Pine Run Gathering and Pine Run Midstream.

In their amended complaint, the Zandarskis said they built a home for themselves and their two children on 36.7 acres of property they own on Clearfield Road in 2012.

Penn Energy and Pine Run Midstream began building oil and gas drilling well pads in 2017 on property close to the Zandarskis’, and in 2019 staked areas of the Zandarskis’ property for construction of a pipeline, according to the suit.

The Zandarskis notified Penn Energy that the work it was preparing to do appeared to encroach and trespass on their property, according to the suit.

The day after work began in January 2020, the Zandarskis’ attorney sent Penn Energy an email saying the company was trespassing. Penn Energy and Pine Run Midstream denied they were trespassing and refused to postpone construction of the pipeline, according to the complaint.

After refusing multiple requests from the Zandarskis to resolve the dispute, Penn Energy and Pine Run Midstream cleared land, removed trees and began building a gas pipeline on the property, according to the suit.

The surveyor who performed the original survey on the property in 2009 performed another survey in June 2020 that confirmed that the Zandarskis owned the property and that the pipeline intruded on their land, according to the suit.

In preliminary objections to the amended complaint filed in January this year, the defendants claim the Zandarskis provided no facts that prove the companies cleared timber and installed a pipeline on their property, and the plaintiffs failed to make a claim for private nuisance because state law defines private nuisance as a nontrespassing invasion of another’s property and the plaintiffs’ claims are based on alleged physical trespass.

The defendants also argued that the Zandarskis failed to allege any “outrageous” conduct that is sufficient for the court to impose punitive damages.

The objections specify that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim against Penn Energy and Pine Run Midstream, failed to state a claim for private nuisance and failed to claim facts to support a punitive damages award.

In response to the original suit, Penn Energy said the Zandarskis’ ownership of the property is subject to a February 2004 oil and gas lease between Lyle D. Barrett and Kevin R. Pattison, who leased the rights, and BLX, Inc., which grants Penn Energy the right to install a pipeline.

Penn Energy also argued that it did not encroach or trespass on the Zandarskis’ property, did not wrongfully clear land and timber on their property and remained within its right of way.

In the alternative, any clearing of timber or other work performed on the Zandarskis’ land was authorized or permitted by the BLX lease, the company said.

The five alleged counts in the Zandarskis’ suit accuse the defendants of negligence, creating a nuisance, intentional trespassing, negligent trespassing and removing timber.

The Zandarskis are seeking unspecified restitution for the value of the removed timber, a permanent injunction against any further trespassing, removal of the pipeline, restoration of the land and unspecified compensatory, punitive and statutory damages. They are seeking a jury trial.