Ban’s foes far outspend proponents
The record books will likely stay inked for a while: A proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city has spurred more than $772,000 in political donations, the most expensive campaign in Denton’s history.
The record books will likely stay inked for a while: A proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city has spurred more than $772,000 in political donations, the most expensive campaign in Denton’s history.
Mailers, fliers and door hangers about the proposition to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city limits have papered Denton homes in recent weeks.
Residents have complained about a full-page color ad on the back page of Wednesday’s Denton Record-Chronicle, saying they did not give permission for their names to be used in a political ad.
The Denton County Republican Party and the Denton County Democratic Party will co-host a public forum on the issue of hydraulic fracturing from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Denton County Elections Administration office, 701 Kimberly Drive, Suite A101, in Denton.
The first round of campaign finance reports show the proposition against hydraulic fracturing inside the city is already the most expensive campaign in Denton’s history, with both sides vying for the right to call themselves “grass roots.”
AUSTIN — Denton residents, concerned about air quality, noise and potential water contamination, may be the first in Texas to ban hydraulic fracturing — but if they do, state lawmakers will likely push back.
Groundwater contamination near North Texas shale gas wells could be caused by a faulty casing or poor cement construction surrounding the casing, according to a new study published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The Denton Chamber of Commerce has formally recommended that its employees and members vote against a proposed ban on hydraulic fracturing that will appear on the city’s Nov. 4 general election ballot.
A Colorado energy company claimed the city of Denton’s moratorium on new gas wells has caused it hardship and received a waiver this week to drill five gas wells on land owned by a former Dallas Cowboy.
After sitting unused for more than 10 years, the sole gas well at Texas Woman’s University will be plugged and capped this month.
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson believes Denton’s proposed ban on hydraulic fracturing would cost the children of Texas.Patterson wrote a letter to Mayor Chris Watts objecting to the ban prior...
Residents will be heading to the polls in November to decide the fate of a proposed ban on hydraulic fracturing in the Denton city limits.
Registration opened at 1 p.m. today for residents who want to address the City Council about a proposed citywide ban on hydraulic fracturing.
Denton has become ground zero in Texas in the fight over hydraulic fracturing. A local and long-simmering fight over the effects of fracking on Denton neighborhoods is morphing into a statewide battleground over a city’s right to police what happens within its boundaries.
Another petition is circulating in Denton, this time to support hydraulic fracturing.
The top court in the state of New York affirmed the rights of cities to ban hydraulic fracturing, in a much-watched case nationwide.
Denton residents who oppose hydraulic fracturing are not alone in their attempt to ban it inside the city limits.
MONTAGUE COUNTY — Tank trucks carrying groundwater thunder by on a nearby highway as Terry Fender sheds his hat, wipes his brow and kneels to record the water level of a well bordered by cracked cement in northern Montague County.
A newly formed group of residents seeking a ban on hydraulic fracturing will begin collecting signatures this week on a petition to force a ballot initiative in Denton.
Residents bailed on a public hearing Tuesday night after learning that the city would take no action on a change to the gas well development code.
Angry residents filled the seats and lined the walls at City Hall on Tuesday night, calling again for a drilling moratorium and for EagleRidge Energy’s old permit to be revoked.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has predicted a dramatic drop in North Texas ozone levels over the next three years, according to a preliminary model of air quality from now through 2018. But will it happen? The agency doesn’t have a good track record with predictions.
Less than a week after filing suit against EagleRidge Energy, the city of Denton withdrew its petition to shut down some of the company’s operations near the intersection of Bonnie Brae Street and Vintage Boulevard.
The city of Denton filed suit Friday against EagleRidge Operating LLC and EagleRidge Energy LLC, claiming that two wells they are drilling near Bonnie Brae Street and Vintage Boulevard violate city ordinances.
After three months of reflection and several government reports, key questions remain unanswered following a gas well blowout on April 19 near homes, businesses and Denton Enterprise Airport, including why it took hours for anyone to call either 911 or state regulators.
A Denton hazardous materials unit was on site for nearly five hours in the 600 block of Jim Christal Road after a gas well pipe separated from the well Friday morning, authorities said.
Residents say they are deflated and disappointed after the Denton City Council finally approved, in a 5-1 vote, new rules for natural gas drilling and production that have been years in the making.
After another round of meetings this week — public, private and behind closed doors — the chasm between city leaders and residents over rewrites to the gas drilling ordinance appears to have widened considerably. The City Council appeared satisfied with the rewrites during a work session last Tuesday, giving little feedback to the staff on the fifth draft other than to ask how to best explain the final product to residents.
Frustrated residents brought another hour of earnest testimony to a public hearing on the gas ordinance rewrites this week.
Since 2011, Denton has spent more than $43,000 on consultants in reviewing the city’s natural gas ordinance, with the potential for thousands more to be spent before the work is done.
The Denton County district attorney’s office dropped a felony case against a Denton man accused of illegally dumping wastewater from a gas drilling site into Hickory Creek, part of the Lewisville Lake watershed.
Public reaction to Denton’s ever-evolving rules for natural gas drilling and production ran the gamut Monday night — from long lists of additional requests to accusations of racism.
The city released another draft of its natural gas ordinance after the close of business Friday, in response to comments it has received so far on the first rewrite of new rules for shale gas drilling and production.
Members of the Denton Stakeholder Drilling Advisory Group said the city’s draft of a gas drilling ordinance fails to grasp and address the public’s concerns and that it sacrifices public health and safety for gas drilling development.
The first draft of new rules for natural gas drilling and production in Denton will be unveiled with the city’s gas well task force Monday evening. The task force is scheduled for a briefing with attorneys in closed session and then move to a public meeting at 6 p.m.
States with the heaviest oil and gas development in the shale drilling boom are doing a poor job enforcing rules meant to protect public health and safety, according to a new analysis by Earthworks.
A shale gas operator has asked out from Denton’s current moratorium on gas well development. EagleRidge Energy and EagleRidge Operating applied July 20 for variances for four gas well pad sites in northwestern Denton. The city will have a public hearing on the request during its regular meeting Sept. 11.
A 2011 news series exploring the far-flung impact of gas development.
A minority report from members of Denton’s official gas well task force says the task force was too small, did not represent residents, did not fully vet their concerns on natural gas production and, unlike similar committees in other cities, did not hear expert presentations or make site visits.
Denton’s gas drilling task force on Monday rejected several proposals to improve site conditions around gas wells and production facilities while endorsing measures meant to keep mud from pooling at well sites and spreading onto public streets.
Chemist Wilma Subra will speak about the possible health impacts of hydraulic fracturing and gas drilling today at the University of North Texas.
Members of the Denton’s gas drilling task force moved on a few items that could improve site conditions around natural gas wells and production facilities, although the group declined to advance all the items that could make both old wells and new ones look better.
Denton’s official gas drilling task force made scant progress this week with new recommendations to reduce noise created by natural gas drilling and production facilities. A 3-2 vote defeated a measure to limit the amount of noise such facilities could make at night and in neighborhoods.
Denton’s gas well task force split Monday on recommendations requiring more public notification of drilling activities, in a meeting that continued highlighting divisions between the panel’s citizen and industry-related members.
A natural gas well site near Apogee Stadium that officials said lacked city permits actually received drilling permits years ago, Denton’s planning director said Monday.
The Denton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to impose a moratorium on new gas drilling and production permits, giving the city some breathing room to finish an ongoing ordinance overhaul.
Denton’s official gas drilling task force voted Monday to require some drillers to recycle water used in hydraulic fracturing but narrowly rejected new regulations for well casing and cementing.
Denton City Council members said they were on track to vote on a gas drilling permit moratorium next week after getting briefed by attorneys and staff members Tuesday.
Denton’s official gas drilling task force voted Monday to recommend a series of water-related regulations, including a ban on open waste pits at drilling sites and baseline testing of nearby water wells.
Denton’s official gas drilling task force voted Monday to recommend approval of more air quality regulations but rejected a ban on compressor stations and tank farms as impractical.