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Energy Company Commences Lawsuits Against Pennsylvania Townships Challenging Anti-Fracking Ordinances

News

Energy Company Commences Lawsuits Against Pennsylvania Townships Challenging Anti-Fracking Ordinances

October 14, 2011

Texas-based Range Resources, a natural gas company, filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Cecil Township seeking to challenge changes made to the township’s oil and gas drilling ordinances. Last month, Cecil Township modified its ordinance to require that drillers first obtain approval from the township’s planning commission prior to fracking. Range Resources alleges that Cecil Township did not follow proper protocols, including public notice requirements, in passing the amended ordinances. Also earlier this year, Range Recourses filed a similar lawsuit against South Fayette Township, which is located a few miles north of Cecil Township. In that lawsuit, Range Recourses echoed many of the arguments asserted by energy companies in various other lawsuits throughout the Marcellus Shale region, namely that the ordinances are inconsistent with the right to extract natural gas under state law.

For more information, please contact: Andrew J. Scholz (914.798.5442; ascholz@goldbergsegalla.com).