Anti-Drillers Lose 2-Yr Case Against Muskingum Watershed District

For several years MDN has tracked and reported on a lawsuit brought against the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) by an anti-drilling couple in Guernsey County, OH–Leatra Harper and her husband Steven Janstro (backed by the odious Food & Water Watch). At last check in April 2014, the couple had won the right to continue on with the lawsuit (see Anti-Drillers Win Minor Victory Against Muskingum Watershed Dist). Their aim was to prove the MWCD had violated the original deed to the property by allowing drilling–that by allowing shale drilling on MWCD-owned land, it frustrates the original purpose of the land as stated in the deed, which is to use the land for “recreation, conservation, or reservoir-development purposes.” The case made it all the way to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week the Sixth Circuit dismissed the case. The anti-drillers have lost…