Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est, a municipality in Quebec with a population of only 157, managed to win a court battle against oil and gas exploration company Gastem, successfully preventing the latter from drilling in the vicinity of the town’s drinking water supply, according to the Guardian.
The four-years of litigation started back in 2013 when the town authorities passed a bylaw that set out a 2km (1.2-mile) no-drill zone around the local water supply, wary of the ongoing exploration by Gastem which started constructing a drilling platform within the township.
"Public interest, the collective well-being of the community and the safety of residents must be weighed for all projects introduced into a municipality," the judge wrote in her decision, ordering the company to cover half of the municipality’s legal fees.
Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est, however, did not fight its legal battle alone as a crowdfunding campaign launched back in 2014 helped raise some C$342,000 to help cover the litigation costs.
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Also, the town banded together with scores of other Canadian municipalities in a bid to amend the law that set out a protected perimeter of 500 meters around potable water sources, seeking to increase that limit to two kilometers.