Pennsylvania agrees to pay $40,000 to gas drilling opposition group over terror listing

The state of Pennsylvania has agreed to pay about $40,000 to an anti-gas drilling group that was erroneously characterized in security bulletins as a potential terror threat.

The settlement terms between the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition were released Friday. The Associated Press obtained the document through an open-records request.

The gas drilling coalition's lawsuit said the bulletins characterized the group as a possible threat to infrastructure without evidence. A private contractor, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, produced the reports under a one-year, $103,000 contract.

The state did not have to admit liability under the Jan. 15 settlement. The watchdog group also agreed it wouldn't make disparaging remarks about the state agency.