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91 Tul. L. Rev. 801 (2016-2017)

handle is hein.journals/tulr91 and id is 857 raw text is: Fighting Fracking: Unexplored Territory in State and Parish Policy I. OVERVIEW ......................................... 801 II. BACKGROUND ....................................802 Ell. COURT'S DECISION .................................... 807 IV. ANALYSIS ............................................811 I. OVERVIEW A 2016 case from the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal explored whether Louisiana state oil and gas drilling permits preempt local zoning ordinances. Pursuant to the home rule charter adopted in 1998, St. Tammany Parish (the Parish) passed a rezoning ordinance in 2010 that designated land in the Lacombe Bayou Field as an A-3 Suburban District, an entirely residential area limited to residential, educational, cultural, and religious activities.' In 2014, the Commissioner of the Office of Conservation of the State of Louisiana, James H. Welsh (the Commissioner), granted Helis Oil & Gas Company, LLC (Helis Oil) a permit to drill a well in Bayou Lacombe Field.2 The drilling was controversial not only because the site was zoned as residential but also because the method of drilling was hydraulic fracturing, a method with the potential to pollute the surrounding groundwater, and the well was sited directly over the Southern Hills Aquifer, the only local supply for drinking water.' The Parish sued the Commissioner for declaratory relief on the grounds that the drilling would violate the Parish's zoning ordinances. The Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish (CCST) and Helis Oil intervened, and every party moved for summary judgment.! The trial court granted summary judgment for the Commissioner and Helis Oil 1. Ordinance No. 10-2408 completed the rezoning project that began in 2007 with Ordinance No. 07-1548. St. Tammany Par. Gov't v. Welsh, 2015-1152, pp. 3-4, p. 4 n.1 (La. App. 1 Cir. 3/9/16); 199 So. 3d 3, 5, wit deni4 2016-0657 (La. 6/17/16); 194 So. 3d 1108, and writ denie 2016-0650 (La. 6/17/16); 194 So. 3d 1109. 2. Id. 3. Id.; see EPA, EPA/600/R-16/236F, HYDRAULiC FRACTURING FOR OIL AND GAS: IMPACTS FROM THE HYDRAuLiC FRACTURING WATER CYCLE ON DRINKING WATER RESOURCES IN THE UNITED STATES (FINAL REPORT) (2016). 4. Welsh, 2015-1152 at p. 4; 199 So. 3d at 5. 5. Id.; 199 So. 3d at 5-6. 801

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