Robert Poloncic, Chairman of the Vestal Landowners Coalition, was directly involved with the Binghamton Moratorium being overturned in court.  Hear what he had to say about the case and the future of natural gas development in New York State below.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with Robert Poloncic, Chairman of the Vestal Landowners Coalition about the recent court ruling about the moratorium placed on the city of Binghamton.  As you know, the moratorium was recently lifted by court order, after having been quickly pushed through the system by Mayor Ryan to take advantage of a supportive City Council.  The moratorium was overturned by Judge Lebous and he found the order does not meet the requirements of a moratorium and is an invalid law.   It was devastating news for special interests trying to destroy the mineral rights of New York landowners.  Their “no brainer” legal strategy was declared brain dead.

Poloncic understands there most likely will not be any natural gas development in the City of Binghamton itself, as it lies between two major aquifers.  It was, as he says, more symbolic than anything else.  Our conversation  on video may be found below but here is one of the takeaways:

Yesterday our coalition and all of the other plaintiffs are all very delighted with Supreme Court Judge Lebous’s decision, which was the decision to overturn the ban that was placed on the city of Binghamton.  It was a ban that was hastily placed and was clearly a violation of county process. (2:15)

Downtown Binghamton

As Chairman of the Vestal Landowners Coalition, Poloncic and his members look to develop the natural resources on their lands.  As these moratoriums and bans have passed around New York, more and more landowners have lost their rights and still more would experienced this fate unless someone stood up to legally challenge them.  The Vestal Coalition just did, thank goodness, and the result is a wipeout of the legal foundation for the moratoriums the Park Foundation funded Community Environmental Defense Council has been selling to communities.

Governor Cuomo has been dragging his feet in making a decision on whether to bring high volume hydraulic fracturing to New York State, so Poloncic says it is important for landowners to come together and show the Governor this is something upstate New Yorkers want and need.

Landowners across the state will be coming together in Albany on October 15th to show Governor Cuomo this is something essential to New York State and that it can be done safely and responsibly.  Poloncic and many of his coalition members will also be in Albany on the 15th so feel free to find him and say hello.  Here’s what he says on that subject:

We’ve lost our children, they all move out of the area after graduating from a four year school because there are no jobs here.  It’s time to bring our kid back and save our businesses. (13:10)

Now, take a moment and watch the whole thing.  Bob does a great job explaining what’s happened, what’s likely to happen and why New York State so desperately needs natural gas development.

We think Bob’s remarks need to be heard by others so please pass around this post, won’t you?