NY Judge Throws Out Binghamton Fracking Moratorium

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stop pressThe City Council for Binghamton, NY passed a de facto drilling moratorium at the end of December of 2011, just before the all-Democrat city council was about to be reconstituted with a few new Republican members (see this MDN story). At the time, Mayor Matthew Ryan and City Council were warned of possible litigation. The law as passed was not (according to City Council and Ryan) an actual moratorium. Instead, they used the “police powers” of the city to enact a law instead of a zoning ordinance, believing it to be a clever legal maneuver insulating them from meeting the strict requirements for a true moratorium. Yesterday New York Supreme Court Judge Ferris Lebous threw out the law as invalid, calling it what it really is: a moratorium. A copy of the judge’s ruling is embedded below. MDN will walk you through it...

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