A judge ruled in favor of landowners in Sidney and repealed the town’s hydrofracking moratorium. The State Supreme Court ruled that the town’s board had improperly enacted a one-year drilling back in February of last year, citing a protest petition which had been signed by 107 residents in the Delaware County town. The petition represented owners of about 8,000 acres of land, which should have triggered a supermajority vote, requiring at least four of the five town board members approve the law behind the drilling ban, but only three members voted in favor of the moratorium. The people who signed the petition represent only about 2 percent of the total population of the town, but the land they own represents about 26 percent of the land in Sidney.
