| For the first time since the natural gas drilling procedure became controversial, a state judge has ruled local communities have the right to ban the use of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) within their jurisdictions, even if the state has authorized it. The ruling by New York State Supreme Court Justice Phillip Rumsey was made during a legal challenge to the town of Dryden's zoning ordinance that prohibited gas drilling within the township's limits. Dryden, with a population of 14,435, is located in Tompkins County, east of Ithaca. Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corp., which had leased 22,000 acres for natural gas drilling, sued the town, claiming the ban was illegal because state law permitted hydraulic fracturing to take place. Lawyers representing Dryden countered that New York courts have allowed towns to ban mining and that the same prohibition should apply to fracking. |
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