NY’s top court says towns can ban fracking

 In its majority opinion, the Court stated,  “We are asked in these two appeals whether towns may ban oil and gas production activities, including hydrofracking, within municipal boundaries through the adoption of local zoning laws,” Associate Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote in the majority opinion. “We conclude that they may because the supersession clause in the statewide Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law (OGSML) does not preempt the home rule authority vested in municipalities to regulate land use.”

(Poster’s note:  New York’s municipalities have been awaiting an appellate level decision for three years.  During that time,  municipalities around the State have been banning “oil and gas production activities”  or they have been reluctant to do so in the face of threatened lawsuits.  Although this decision is open to  appeal,  all  New Yorkers, no matter their stance on fracking,  should celebrate this affirmation of local control.  Read the Court’s opinion here.)

https://gasvets.org/2014/06/30/612/

The Mother of All Anti-Fracking Tools:  community rights tested in Mora, New Mexico.

“Does a community’s right to self-governance trump the rights of corporations? The county ordinance’s basic aim is to protect the water supply in a parched region of a drought-stricken state, but it also contains a bill of rights for the environment, which argues that natural ecosystems ‘possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist.’”  (Read more….)

https://gasvets.org/2014/06/20/606/

Breaking: $3 Million Jury Verdict in Texas Fracking Nuisance Case

A jury in Dallas, TX today awarded $2.925 million to plaintiffs Bob and Lisa Parr, who sued Barnett shale fracking company Aruba Petroleum Inc. for  intentionally causing a nuisance on the Parr’s property which impacted their health and ruined their drinking water.   (See more…)  (Poster’s comment:  This is huge.  Bypass FERC.  Bypass statutory exemptions.  Go to “Intentional Tort.”  Truly great news from this jury trial.  And no surprise, DeSmog Blog is on top of it.)

https://gasvets.org/2014/04/22/484/