fracking ban

Wed, 2014-10-22 09:55Julie Dermansky
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Supporters of Fracking Ban Face New Wave of McCarthyism in Denton, Texas

Banning fracking in Denton, Texas

In Denton, Texas, a college town north of Dallas that sits atop the Barnett Shale formation, the fight over a referendum banning fracking within city limits is in the final stretch.

The local ballot initiative has global implications, with the energy sector watching closely.

The turmoil in Denton reflects a growing national debate between those concerned with health and quality of life issues, and others who claim the fracking industry is America’s answer to economic growth and energy independence.

Read more: Supporters of Fracking Ban Face New Wave of McCarthyism in Denton, Texas
Tue, 2014-03-11 15:00Anne Landman
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Judge Says Broomfield's Anti-Fracking Ballot Measure is Valid

A Colorado District Court judge ruled last week that a five year ban on hydraulic fracturing that citizens of Broomfield approved on the city's November, 2013 local ballot is valid and can go into effect.
 
Broomfield is one of five Colorado cities that have brought local ballot initiatives to regulate fracking activity within their borders. The others are Lafayette, Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins. 
 
The razor-thin election results on Broomfield's anti-fracking measure, Question 300, led to a recount which concluded the measure passed by a margin of just 20 votes out of more than 20,000 cast.
 
The Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition and Tom Cave, a member of It's Our Broomfield, Too, both pro-fracking groups funded by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, challenged the validity of the election results and sued to have them invalidated, but on February 27, 2014 Judge Chris Melonakis of the Seventeenth Judicial District ruled that the City of Broomfield had acted in good faith in conducting the election and the results are fair and valid.
Read more: Judge Says Broomfield's Anti-Fracking Ballot Measure is Valid
Fri, 2014-02-28 05:00Julie Dermansky
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Denton, Texas Citizens Group Fights For Fracking Ban

Maile Bush's three-bedroom home is sandwiched between two EagleRidge Energy fracking sites in Denton, Texas. Towering temporary walls block her view of the frack sites, but nothing can stop the noise, lights and fumes from infiltrating her property.

Bush’s formerly safe, quiet suburban neighborhood is now a dangerous industrial zone. Last October, when she learned about EagleRidge's plans to frack under the D.H. Horton subdivision her house is part of, ‘Meadows at Hickory Creek,' Bush started asking questions.

The answers she found — and the stress of living about 500 feet from one drill site and 800 feet from another — have caused constant strain on her family’s health.

Bush has been keeping her kids inside since the fracking started. She and her husband have been weighing relocation, but moving is costly and selling, difficult. In an interview with DeSmogBlog, Bush said,

“Who would want to buy my home now? My kids like their schools. My husband's job is here. And where would we move?”  

Any property available nearby would still be part of the Barnett Shale, where the fracking industry continues to grow.


Maile Bush inside her home with her kids, Kaden and Cassidy © 2014 Julie Dermansky

Read more: Denton, Texas Citizens Group Fights For Fracking Ban
Wed, 2011-06-29 15:42Carol Linnitt
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New Jersey Senate Passes Fracking Ban

Lawmakers in the New Jersey Senate voted 33-1 today to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking), in a move to protect the Delaware River from potential contamination from the risky unconventional gas drilling practice. The Delaware River supplies drinking water for 15 million people in four states.

NorthJersey.com reports:

The 33-1 vote came after Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth) unsuccessfully asked for a five-year moratorium instead of an outright ban.

Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Bergen), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, “represents the greatest threat to New Jersey’s water supply than anything else we face today.”

“I don’t think we can wait for five years. I think we need to send a clear signal to the rest of the nation that New Jersey values its water resources,” Gordon said.

Read more: New Jersey Senate Passes Fracking Ban
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