Gas industry tries to revive case on fracking home rule

Jon Campbell

The trustee for a defunct oil-and-gas company is attempting a last-ditch effort to revive a lawsuit challenging hydraulic fracturing bans by local governments.

The state Court of Appeals in June ruled in favor of the towns of Dryden, Tompkins County, and Middlefield, Otsego County, which saw their local natural-gas-drilling bans challenged by pro-fracking interests. The ruling set a precedent allowing New York’s local governments to use zoning ordinances to ban fracking and gas drilling within their borders.

In a motion filed Wednesday with the Court of Appeals, Albany-based attorney Thomas West (pictured) asked the state’s top court to revisit the case, arguing that the panel of judges didn’t appropriately consider an argument made in court filings. West represents Mark Wallach, the bankruptcy trustee for Norse Energy, a former subsidiary to a Norwegian oil-and-gas company that challenged Dryden’s drilling ban.

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2014/08/06/attorney-tries-to-revive-case-on-fracking-home-rule/