"Local Governments Cannot Regulate Fracking, Ohio Supreme Court Rules"

"Lamenting that the 'oil and gas industry has gotten its way,' Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O’Neill has tongue-in-cheek visions of drilling rigs rising amid the homes of Upper Arlington. By a 4-3 vote, the justices ruled that the state has 'exclusive authority' and that cities and counties can neither ban nor regulate fracking through zoning laws or other restrictions.

Local governments’ home-rule powers stop short of the wellhead — overridden by the authority that lawmakers gave to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to license and regulate the location of wells, the court’s majority ruled."

Randy Ludlow reports for the Columbus Dispatch February 18, 2015.