 | A small municipality in Quebec that was facing a million-dollar lawsuit from an oil and gas exploration company has won its court battle, bringing an end to a four-year ordeal that began when residents took steps to protect their water supply. “Reason and law prevailed today,” François Boulay, the mayor of Ristigouche Sud-Est, a township of 157 people on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, said. |  |
 | The clash started in 2011, when the province granted a Montreal-based company, Gastem, drilling permits to search for oil and gas in the eastern part of the province. Construction began on a drilling platform in the township’s territory.
Amid concerns from Ristigouche Sud-Est residents over how the drilling would affect municipal water sources, the town passed a bylaw in 2013 that set out a 2km no-drill zone around its water supply. Gastem shot back with a lawsuit that claimed residents had created an illegal bylaw. The company’s initial C$1.5m ($1.2m) claim for damages was later reduced to C$984,676 – a figure that was more than three times the township’s annual budget. | |
A judge at the superior court of Quebec ruled this week that Ristigouche Sud-Est was within its rights to protect its water supply. In the absence of any existing provincial laws to protect water sources, the municipality had the right to create its own, the judge added.
