YAHOO / AP: The state Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Thursday to strike down portions of a 2012 law that had been crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett and his industry-friendly allies in the Legislature…
After the industry began descending on the Marcellus Shale in earnest in 2008, state Supreme Court decisions expanded the legal gray area surrounding the extent of municipal authority over the operation and location of oil and gas wells, critics of the decisions say. Some companies complained that municipalities, mostly in southwestern Pennsylvania, had tried to use zoning rules to unreasonably limit drilling.
As a result, many in the industry made it a top priority to secure a law that eliminated any municipal authority over how drilling companies could operate. Corbett took office in 2011 and backed the industry, believing that a 1984 state law had intended to do that anyway… (more)
