A Press Release from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, from October 2, 2017.
Rules Township Residents Must Accept Injection Well; Closes Courtroom Door to the People of Highland Township
Last week, Magistrate Judge Susan Paradise Baxter issued a decision invalidating provisions of Highland Township’s Home Rule Charter, which protected the Township from frack wastewater. The Charter – akin to a local constitution – was voted in by Township residents in November 2016. It included a ban on wastewater injection wells as a violation of the community’s rights to clean air and water. Judge Baxter also recently denied intervention to three local parties working to protect the community from frack waste: the municipal Water Authority, the local nonprofit group Citizen’s Advocating a Clean Healthy Environment (CACHE), and the Crystal Spring Ecosystem. MORE…