N.Y. Justice Upholds Town Zoning Prohibition on Gas and Oil Drilling

ITHACA, N.Y. - A New York justice has rejected a drilling firm's challenge to a municipal zoning amendment that bans drilling for natural gas or oil, ruling that the ordinance is not preempted by the state's 1981 Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law. Anschutz Exploration Corp. v. Town of Dryden, et al., No. 000902/2011 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Tompkins Cty.).

Tompkins County Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey said in his Feb. 21 order that the Town of Dryden is entitled to summary judgment, based on the New York Court of Appeals' holding in Matter of Frew Run Gravel Prods. v. …