EQT Production Company v. Matthew Wender

As the majority opinion makes plain, the parties’ central dispute in this case strikes at the heart of the often-delicate balance between state and federal priorities and the responsibility of local governments to safeguard their communities and protect their citizens. With these weighty matters in mind, and due to the relative paucity of guidance from the West Virginia courts on the question at hand—some of which is in tension with the majority opinion’s result—I write separately to express my view that this significant and dispositive question of state law would be best resolved through…