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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.