The battle over Middlesex Township's gas and oil drilling ordinance and the hotly contested Geyer gas well site on Denny Road isn't over yet.

After about seven months of testimony in relation to the arguments against the drilling, the township zoning hearing board on May 28 denied an initial challenge by some of the same parties.

In addition to challenging the ordinance, the parties unsuccessfully challenged permits issued to Rex Energy for five Marcellus shale gas wells on a farm owned by Bob and Kim Geyer.

About a week after the decision was announced, on June 5, the Philadelphia-based environmental groups Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Clean Air Council, as well as two of the four original complainant residents, David Denk and Jennifer Chomicki, filed an appeal in Butler County Court.

The appeal alleges that drilling is dangerous, the ordinance is unconstitutional and the zoning hearing board disregarded evidence, gave improper weight to evidence and improperly credited other evidence.

“The board conducted the hearings in a biased and improper manner, depriving appellants a fair adjudication of their claims,” the appeal alleges.

Further, the paperwork claims approval of the Geyer well site violates citizens' rights “by injecting an incompatible industrial use in a district where there is no expectation of industrial activity and where it will cause a nuisance.”

Already more than 700 pages of documentation have been filed with the new appeal and includes a motion by Rex Energy to be a party in the case and a request for a stay by the township.

Butler County Judge S. Michael Yeager has been assigned the case, and the date of the next hearing has not yet been set.

Attorneys for the parties and the Geyers could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.