SOUTHERN TIER – It’s a victory for some landowners in Tioga County. A lawsuit against Inflection Energy, Victory Energy and Mega Energy was filed on behalf of 35 property owners. They had all signed oil and gas leases, which were set to expire last year.

But the property owners were sent letters stating their leases had been extended, at the same rate, because of a moratorium on hydrofracking issued by then Governor Paterson in 2008.

This week, a US District Court judge ruled in favor of the landowners, saying the leases were not extended for any reason and declared them expired by their own terms.

A similar ruling was made earlier in the week against Chesapeake Appalachia and Stat-oil-hydro.