Tompkins anti-fracking activists celebrate court ruling

[hrmjustin]

Andrew Casler

ITHACA — Around 50 people gathered in front of the Tompkins County Courthouse Monday afternoon to celebrate a ruling by New York’s highest court, upholding the legitimacy of local hydraulic fracturing bans.

“This is just a red-letter day for us, for our state, for our country and for the world,” State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, told the gathering.

The State Court of Appeals voted 5-2 in favor of the towns of Dryden and Middlefield.

Town of Dryden Deputy Supervisor Jason Leifer said that gas companies lied to New Yorkers with claims that they weren’t subject to local control.

http://www.stargazette.com/article/20140630/NEWS10/306300036/Tompkins-anti-fracking-activists-celebrate-court-ruling?nclick_check=1