Pa. Environmental Coalition Asks to Add Conspiracy to Defamation Suit

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition has asked a federal court to allow it to add a conspiracy claim to a Second Amended Complaint against Pennsylvania authorities and a state contractor the coalition says surreptitiously monitored group members and falsely portrayed the group as “anti-drilling.” Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition v. Powers, et al., No. 1: 10-cv-1997 (M.D. Pa.).

The coalition said in its May 30 Motion for Leave to File that the new complaint would add a sixth claim for relief and that the conspiracy claim asserted under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 would be in addition to a …