Friday, March 30, 2012
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A group including seven municipalities is suing the state of Pennsylvania over the new Marcellus Shale law.
Among other things, they say it unconstitutionally takes away the power to control property from towns and landowners for the benefit of the oil and gas industry.
The approximately 120-page lawsuit was filed Thursday in Commonwealth Court.
Opponents of the six-week-old law say it prevents municipalities from protecting homes or businesses, and possibly even schools or parks, from drilling activity that could damage a community’s quality of life and property values.
The suit also says the law is unconstitutionally vague in portions that regulate municipal zoning, and violates various procedural rules on legislation laid down by the state constitution. A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett says the administration’s confident it’ll withstand judicial scrutiny.