by Long Island Attorney Paul A. Lauto, Esq.
In the Matter of Norse Energy v. Town of Dryden, the Appellate Division upheld town zoning ordinances barring hydraulic fracturing. Fracking or hydraulic fracturing is the controversial process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth. The process entails, among other things, deep drilling that frees gas from within the rock by injecting wells with high pressured water that is laced with toxic chemicals. Opponents maintain that the process contaminates the water supply, impairs the health of local residents and is damaging to the environment. Proponents maintain that the process is a safe and effective method to tap into an unused energy source.
In the court's decision Justice Karen Peters stated, "While the Town's exercise of its right to regulate land use through zoning will inevitably have an incidental effect upon the oil, gas and solution mining industries, we conclude that zoning ordinances are not the type of regulatory provision that the Legislature intended to be preempted by the [Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law]."
Read the full article at www.liattorney.com/scales-of-justice.html.
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