ACLU wants suit dropped in the case of drilling near Mars Area school campus
July 8, 2015 12:00 AM
By Stephanie Ritenbaugh / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is seeking to have a land developer and other landowners drop a lawsuit against a group of residents and environmental organizations who oppose a local zoning ordinance allowing shale drilling near the Mars Area School District campus in Butler County.
The lawsuit in question, filed May 22 in Butler County Common Pleas Court, involves Dewey Homes and Investment Properties and a dozen landowners who leased their gas rights. The suit claims legal appeals by the residents and environmental groups over the Middlesex zoning rules caused them financial hardship. It seeks damages and at least $35,000 in costs from each defendant named for interfering in the drilling leases and alleged civil conspiracy.
The Middlesex Township zoning ordinance allows drilling and related activity on more than 90 percent of the township, including areas within a half-mile of the schools.
In a letter dated June 29, the ACLU called the lawsuit against five Middlesex residents, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the Clean Air Council a SLAPP suit — strategic lawsuit against public participation — which is a “dangerous legal tactic designed to stifle dissent and punish core First Amendment protected activities, such as speaking at public meetings and filing appropriate legal challenges to the proposed commercial activity.”
The ACLU letter states that the lawsuit has been “improperly filed to harass and inflict expense upon the defendants.”
On Oct. 10, 2014, four of the five Middlesex Township residents, who are homeowners and have children in the school district, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Clean Air Council challenged the township’s zoning amendment, saying such a measure violated the Environmental Rights Amendment of the Pennsylvania constitution, and failed to protect public health and safety by allowing shale gas extraction near schools and residences.
“This is the ugliest kind of lawsuit; it is intended to terrorize people into abandoning their legal rights,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.
So far, Dewey Homes’ attorneys — Jones, Gregg, Creehan & Gerace — have not responded to the ACLU’s letter, the organization said.
A message left with the Pittsburgh law firm was not returned Tuesday
