Various local parties involved in a lawsuit that resulted in a preliminary injunction in a settlement that halted drilling in the Allegheny National Forest are being tight-lipped regarding Judge Sean McLauglin's decision that was handed down on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Times Observer made efforts to contact various plaintiffs and defendants involved in the case, including the U.S. Forest Service, the Allegheny Defense Project, the Allegheny Forest Alliance and Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association to request their reactions to McLaughlin's rulings.

Most of the responses were brief.

"Obviously, we are very disappointed," said Ryan Talbot, executive director of the Allegheny Defense Project. "We have no further comment as we are still studying the ruling."

The U.S. Forest Service referred questions regarding the injunction to the U.S. Department of Justice.

"We are reviewing the decision and have no further comment," was the reply from Andrew Ames, Office of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice.

Steve Rhoads and John Peterson, president of POGAM and executive director of AFA, respectively, were not available for comment regarding the injunction.

U.S. Congressman Glenn Thompson, R-Fifth, praised McLaughlin's decision, calling it "a victory for state's rights and for local control."

"This ruling allows companies to bring their employees back to work and plan for the future," Thompson said. "The decision by the U.S. Forest Service to stop permitting and, by extension, drilling for so-called 'environmental reasons' was wrong from the start and did irreversible harm to the local economy."

Thompson called the ruling "a victory for the hard-working people of northwest and north central Pennsylvania."

Warren County Commissioner John Bortz called McLaughlin's ruling a win for Warren County, despite McLaughlin's decision to deny the county's claims as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

"I can appreciate what the judge said in that area," Bortz said, regarding McLaughlin's decision to rule against Warren County claims. "We presented the evidence as we knew it and as we were prepared by the attorney to present it. Was there harm done to Warren County (by the settlement)? Absolutely. There were a number of individuals from the county who testified that they had been shut down by the settlement."

Bortz said that now that the preliminary injunction has been granted, allowing drilling to resume in the national forest, it's time for the county to move forward on how to better communicate with ANF officials.

"It's this commissioner's opinion that the administration of the Forest Service has been moving toward a unilateral decision-making process," Bortz said. "We need to know what the role of county government is. After two terms as a commissioner, I still haven't had an answer to that question."