The Commonwealth Court has allowed a suit to proceed against the state and Governor Tom Corbett that alleges amendments to several statutes, including the Oil and Gas Act, unlawfully seek to divert money away from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund, which was created to preserve state parks and forests in connection with fracking.
In Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled in an unreported opinion to overrule Corbett’s and the state’s preliminary objections to the suit brought by the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to assist citizens in environmental litigation.
