Sierra Club Sues to Stop Water Sales in Steuben County, NY

| | | | | |

In March 2012, the village board in Painted Post (Steuben County), NY voted to sell water to Shell for use in fracking operations across the border in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) gave its blessing to Painted Post to sell up to 1 million gallons of water day. But the decision doesn’t sit well with anti-drillers.

According to NGI’s Shale Daily, the Sierra Club and several area organizations sued the village board in late June to stop the sale from taking place.

In late June the Sierra Club, People for a Health Environment Inc., Coalition to Protect New York and four Painted Post citizens filed a civil lawsuit in Steuben County challenging the contract, which includes a land lease for a water loading facility to be built in the village (Sierra Club et al. v. The Village of Painted Post et al., No. 2012-0810).

A hearing to grant a preliminary injunction is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on July 23 at the Steuben County Courthouse in the Village of Bath.*

Stay tuned. A long summer and fall are ahead for Painted Post and Shell.

*NGI’s Shale Daily (Jul 9, 2012) – New York Groups Try to Prevent Water Sale for Pennsylvania Operation