A New York judge has ruled towns have a right to ban the controversial natural gas drilling process known as fracking. On Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Phillip Rumsey upheld a ban by the Ithaca suburb of Dryden, saying the town’s government could prohibit fracking as part of its authority to regulate local land use. The decision could prove key to municipalities seeking to prevent fracking as the industry eyes natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale, a massive rock formation that stretches through parts of New York and other states.