July 16, 2014      12:12 PM
Denton fracking ban initiative moves to November ballot box
City council rejects ban after hours of passionate testimony
After eight hours of impassioned public testimony, the Denton
City Council voted 5-2 early Wednesday morning against a citizen
petition banning fracking within city limits, passing the issue directly to
voters on the November ballot.
The marathon meeting drew state politicians; former Texas
Supreme Court Justice Tom
Phillips, now representing the oil industry; oil industry regulators and
executives; and a steady stream of ordinary Denton residents who vowed they are
not about to back down from their fight against fracking.
Phillips warned that, should the citizens prevail in November,
they’d face certain lawsuits from members of the Texas Oil & Gas Association.
Both sides repeatedly declared that the eyes of the nation and even the world
were on Denton during the proceedings, noting that the ban would be the first
in a state with a rich tradition in oil and gas drilling.
But as 500 people showed up at Denton City Hall,
fracking opponents said they proposed the ban only as a last resort and only
when natural gas operators proved recalcitrant to working out reasonable
solutions for residents living in the shadow of drilling rigs.
Councilmembers Kevin
Roden and Jim Engelbrecht
peppered opponents of the ban with questions, siding with residents who said
they were fed up with natural gas companies that found legal loopholes to
counter existing city ordinances governing such lifestyle changing issues as setbacks
from residential properties.
The rest of the story is in the Texas Energy Report.
|