State court invalidates Binghamton gas drilling ban

BINGHAMTON — A state Supreme Court judge in an Oct. 2 decision has thrown out the city of Binghamton’s law against natural gas drilling — a law the judge said is clearly meant to be a moratorium.

On Dec. 21, 2011, the Binghamton City Council adopted a local law prohibiting “gas and petroleum exploration activities, underground storage of natural gas, and disposal of natural gas or petroleum extraction, exploration, and production wastes.” Mayor Matthew T. Ryan signed the law on Dec. 22.

The problem is that the law isn’t really a law, Judge Ferris D. Lebous said in his decision. Referencing city council transcripts regarding the law, Lebous said it is clear the city meant the law to act as a moratorium, effectively banning gas drilling for a period of two years.

“It’s clear that a municipality can enact laws pursuant to its police powers to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens, and it does not have to do so through a zoning law,” Lebous wrote.

But in the city’s case, Lebous said, it was clear from the beginning that those involved believed the law to be a moratorium.

However, a moratorium is meant to be a temporary “stop-gap” measure to ban a particular land use while the municipality reviews a more comprehensive zoning law, Lebous wrote. In order for a moratorium to stand, the municipality must show that it was enacted in response to a dire necessity, is reasonably calculated to alleviate or prevent a crisis, and that the municipality is taking steps to rectify the problem.

The city didn’t do that, Lebous wrote.

There is no dire need for a moratorium, Lebous noted, because the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has yet to publish the regulations required before any gas drilling can take place nor is the DEC issuing any drilling permits.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.

The matter came before Lebous on June 19 when a group filed suit to have the law invalidated.

The prospect of new drilling for natural gas has ignited passions throughout New York. Portions of Upstate, and especially the Southern Tier, sit over rock formations that house large stores of natural gas.

New techniques have made the gas more accessible and sparked hopes for economic development. Environmentalists have argued that the drilling techniques could harm groundwater and raised other concerns.

The state has been reviewing the matter.

Contact DeLore at tdelore@tgbbj.com