Jon Campbell

Albany Bureau http://rochesterdemocrat.ny.newsmemory.com/

ALBANY — The state’s top court will soon de­cide whether towns can ban hydraulic fractur­ing, after judges grilled attorneys on both sides of the debate for an hour Tuesday. The Court of Appeals heard arguments in a pair of cases that could have major implications for the future of frack­ing and local zoning. At issue are bans on frack­ing and gas drilling in the towns of Dryden, Tompkins County, and Middlefield, Otsego County. Lower courts have upheld their right to pro­hibit drilling through lo­cal zoning ordinances, but the seven-member court agreed to take up the case late last year.

The joint hearing Tuesday focused largely on the state’s oil-and-gas law, which includes a clause that prohibits lo­cal governments from regulating the industry except when it comes to road use and taxation.

But does a townwide zoning law prohibiting fracking amount to reg­ulating the gas industry? The court will ultimately decide. “On the one hand, you’re saying yes, we should have a compre­hensive strategy to deal with such an important issue to our state — ener­gy,” Chief Judge Jona­than Lippman said dur­ing arguments. “And on the other hand, munici­palities believe (they can) determine how they’re going to live. They want some voice in how they live.” Anschutz Explora­tion Corp., a Denver­based oil-and-gas com­pany, first sued the town of Dryden in 2011, after the town bolstered its zoning laws to expressly prohibit gas drilling.

After the state Su­preme Court ruled against Anschutz, the company declined to proceed with an appeal and was replaced by Norse Energy Corp., which later went bank­rupt and is now being represented by a trus­tee.

In Middlefield, it’s a similar story. The Coo­perstown Holstein Corp., a dairy farm with active oil-and-gas leases on its property, sued the town after it banned drilling through its zon­ing ordinances.

The state Appellate Division unanimously sided with the towns in both cases, and the Court of Appeals decided to take up the case.

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