( November 10, 2023, 11:41 AM EST) -- CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A state appeals court justice in West Virginia has reversed a lower court ruling and held that a city cannot hinder a hydraulic fracturing operator’s ability to begin drilling once the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has issued a permit. The justice said a city’s approval scheme is in direct conflict with state law that vests the WVDEP with “sole and exclusive authority” to regulate the “permitting” and “location” of horizontal gas wells. . . .