A group of about a dozen landowners from Southern Illinois is suing the state, claiming the Quinn Administration is dragging its feet on awarding permits for hydraulic fracking. Individual landowners stand to make thousands of dollars once they are allowed to lease their land to oil companies for the controversial horizontal drilling procedure. The suit claims oil companies are abandoning Illinois because permits weren't forthcoming, but the state says it's still in the midst of the rulemaking process and that the rules should be ready by the November 15th deadline mandated by the state law.
