(AP) ARGYLE – XTO Energy has sued the town of Argyle in federal court, complaining that the town's road remediation ordinance is "unconstitutionally vague" and violates the company's rights to due process.

XTO filed suit Sept. 30 in federal district court in Sherman, alleging that the town ticketed truck drivers working for the company as they drove on Frenchtown Road to work at well sites in Bartonville.

In the filing, XTO claims that because the wells were outside Argyle's town limits, the company did not have to get a permit to drill in Argyle. Therefore, XTO claims in the suit, Argyle's road remediation requirements did not apply to the company.

The town's road remediation ordinance requires gas companies to pay for the road damage their trucks cause.

One of the well sites named in the suit, the Fuller family unit, is within the Bartonville town limits, but the other site, the Lunt unit, is within Argyle's extra-territorial jurisdiction, according to county maps.

In its reply, filed with the court Oct. 23, Argyle officials said they ticketed the drivers on the grounds that the company needed a road remediation agreement with the town before beginning work at the well sites. Argyle claimed portions of Frenchtown Road, specifically the northern, or westbound, side of the road, are inside its town limits, therefore the town's ordinances apply.

Widened and rebuilt with asphalt in a cooperative agreement between the town and Denton County several years ago, Frenchtown Road is posted for no truck traffic.

Neither attorneys for K&L Gates, which represents XTO, nor Taylor, Olson, Adkins, Sralla, & Ellam, which represents Argyle in the case, could be reached for comment.

XTO's lawsuit follows a recent spate of lawsuits filed by energy companies against cities and their enforcement of ordinances related to natural gas drilling.