ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A natural gas drilling company is suing state regulators and a western New York town where it has operated for decades over a local moratorium that threatens to put it out of business.

Papers were served this week in a lawsuit against the Livingston County town of Avon and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said John Holko, owner of Lenape Resources, a small natural gas company based in Alexander, 35 miles southwest of Rochester. Holko is seeking at least $50 million in damages from the town, claiming its recent ban on gas drilling and storage has cost Lenape millions of dollars in lost business and unused mineral rights.