( October 23, 2025, 12:11 PM EDT) -- COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal magistrate judge in Ohio denied a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in a dispute over the boundaries of the shale formation from which the fracking companies are extracting natural gas using a procedure called horizontal drilling, ruling that the fracking operators have not carried their burden to demonstrate that the existence of drilling permits from the state of Ohio forecloses the plaintiff’s tort claims....