SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A northeastern New Mexico county faces another lawsuit for its decision to prohibit oil and natural gas development.
A statewide industry group and three landowners sued Mora County last November and now a Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary has filed a new suit.
The Santa Fe New Mexican (https://bit.ly/1mojWVB ) reports that the new suit filed by Shell Western E&P Inc. asks the court to overturn Mora County's ordinance and to award damages to the company.
Claims made in the lawsuit include that the ordinance deprives the company of its property interests by preventing it from pursuing oil and gas drilling on leased land.
The county says the drilling restrictions it approved last April protect the county's natural resources.
The company filed its lawsuit Jan. 10 in federal court in Albuquerque.