Monroeville Seismic Testing Ordinance Challenged in Court
Monroeville, PA (Allegheny County, suburb of Pittsburgh) is hostile toward the shale industry. In September, Monroeville Council voted to enact a super-restrictive seismic testing ordinance (see Monroeville, PA Passes Restrictive Seismic Testing Ordinance). The ordinance was meant to hassle Huntley & Huntley (H&H), which had wanted to conduct seismic testing in two rural areas of the municipality. As an aside, H&H’s headquarters is in Monroeville. Maybe they should move it, taking their jobs and tax contributions with them? At any rate, the contractor doing the seismic work for H&H, Geokinetics, has taken Monroeville Council to court over their punitive seismic ordinance. In the complaint, Geokinetics says, “Monroeville’s intransigence is not motivated by any legitimate concerns for the health and safety of its citizens, but rather by its council’s concerns about November elections.” One of the Democrat councilors up for reelection, Linda Gaydos, replied, “It had nothing to do with my election and it certainly wasn’t for political gain.” However, Gaydos’ actions speak louder than her words. Gaydos and other anti-drilling Council members voted earlier this month to ban shale drilling in most places within the municipality (see Monroeville, PA Hostile to Shale, Bans Drilling in Most Places). We hope the residents of Monroeville enjoy paying more in taxes to fund lawsuits brought against the municipality because of the actions of “leaders” like Gaydos…
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