Summary
In 2014, the people of Grant Township, Pennsylvania adopted a Community Bill of Rights Ordinance that declared all residents and natural communities and ecosystems within the Township (including, but not limited to, rivers, streams, and aquifers) “possess the right to clean air, water, and soil” and “the right to exist, flourish, and naturally evolve.” This Ordinance also declared any permit for fracking injection in the town was invalid, and that corporations had no legal right to challenge the ordinance in court.
The Town adopted this Ordinance after Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) obtained a federal permit to inject fracking waste into an abandoned well within the town. Such waste is known to be radioactive and chemically toxic, and injection wells have also caused earthquakes. Community members feared that chemicals in the fracking waste would leach from the injection well into their private water wells, which are the community’s only source of drinking water. PGE filed a lawsuit against the Ordinance, claiming it violated its rights guaranteed by federal and state laws and by the US constitution. The federal judge ruled against the town and overturned the Community Bill of Rights Ordinance. But, despite this victory, PGE did not begin to operate the injection well, as Grant Township enacted a Home Rule Charter Initiative in 2015 (see Grant Township U.S. Home Rule Charter).
Still, to this day, thanks to the tireless efforts of the people of Grant Township and those who support them, there is still no injection well, 9 years after PGE first applied for a permit. The fight continues.