The new mayor of Morgantown, WV, said he is concerned about the potential legal ramifications from the city's new ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but he indicated that the city will keep the ban in place for now.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) filed additional paperwork in the case on July 7, asking a Monongalia County Circuit Court judge to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, which bans fracking within the city and an adjacent one-mile buffer zone.
Jim Manilla was sworn in as mayor during the last Morgantown City Council meeting on July 5. He had served previously as a city council member but was not in office when the city enacted the ordinance on June 21.
"My personal opinion is the one-mile thing will not be held up in court. I do have a major concern about that," Manilla told the Charleston Daily Mail.
The ordinance targets two NNE Marcellus Shale natural gas wells being drilled in Morgantown Industrial Park, which lies within the buffer zone. The city said it is concerned about the possibility of an accident at the wells, which are also near the Monongahela River and the city's municipal water intake (see NGI, June 13).
Charleston, WV-based NNE had originally sought a temporary restraining order preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, and a declaration that the ordinance preempts state law (see NGI, July 4). Michael Garrison, an attorney with the Morgantown office of Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC, told NGI that the injunction request was a different procedural approach but legal arguments remained the same.
Garrison also said NNE and Enrout Properties LLC, which owns the surface and mineral rights at the industrial park, want a court hearing.
"We've asked for things to be expedited, for the discovery [phase] to be done on an expedited basis and for a hearing to be held soon thereafter," Garrison said. "We intend to depose various city officials and any expert witnesses that the city plans to rely upon. We'd like to do that on an expedited basis because our client plans to begin its fracking process in August."
In its court filings NNE said it has spent more than $7 million developing the two wells and put the project's current net value at about $42 million. The company said it could lose tens of millions of dollars if its legal challenge to the ordinance is unsuccessful. If that were to happen, NNE could potentially seek millions from the city as compensation.
"We're almost gambling," Manilla said. "I don't want that to come back on the taxpayers."
©Copyright 2011Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.
The new mayor of Morgantown, WV, said he is concerned about the potential legal ramifications from the city's new ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but he indicated that the city will keep the ban in place for now.
Meanwhile, attorneys for Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) filed additional paperwork in the case on July 7, asking a Monongalia County Circuit Court judge to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, which bans fracking within the city and an adjacent one-mile buffer zone.
Jim Manilla was sworn in as mayor during the last Morgantown City Council meeting on July 5. He had served previously as a city council member but was not in office when the city enacted the ordinance on June 21.
"My personal opinion is the one-mile thing will not be held up in court. I do have a major concern about that," Manilla told the Charleston Daily Mail.
The ordinance targets two NNE Marcellus Shale natural gas wells being drilled in Morgantown Industrial Park, which lies within the buffer zone. The city said it is concerned about the possibility of an accident at the wells, which are also near the Monongahela River and the city's municipal water intake (see NGI, June 13).
Charleston, WV-based NNE had originally sought a temporary restraining order preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, and a declaration that the ordinance preempts state law (see NGI, July 4). Michael Garrison, an attorney with the Morgantown office of Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC, told NGI that the injunction request was a different procedural approach but legal arguments remained the same.
Garrison also said NNE and Enrout Properties LLC, which owns the surface and mineral rights at the industrial park, want a court hearing.
"We've asked for things to be expedited, for the discovery [phase] to be done on an expedited basis and for a hearing to be held soon thereafter," Garrison said. "We intend to depose various city officials and any expert witnesses that the city plans to rely upon. We'd like to do that on an expedited basis because our client plans to begin its fracking process in August."
In its court filings NNE said it has spent more than $7 million developing the two wells and put the project's current net value at about $42 million. The company said it could lose tens of millions of dollars if its legal challenge to the ordinance is unsuccessful. If that were to happen, NNE could potentially seek millions from the city as compensation.
"We're almost gambling," Manilla said. "I don't want that to come back on the taxpayers."
©Copyright 2011Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.
