A landowners group is appealing a southwestern Illinois judge's refusal to suspend the state's new rules for high-volume oil and gas drilling.
Attorneys for the landowners and the group Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment on Monday asked the Mount Vernon-based 5th District Appellate Court to hear the matter.
Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder last month denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction over the rules meant to regulate hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking.'' Crowder concluded the plaintiffs failed to show they would suffer immediate harm if fracking went ahead.
The landowners and the state disagreed during a hearing with Crowder last month over the plaintiffs' claims the rules approved November 6th by a legislative panel were procedurally flawed.
It's unclear when the appellate court might hear the matter.
