Experts will debate fracking Monday in Farmers Branch

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Jake Dean

A producing well near homes in Denton.

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Nicholas Sakelaris

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Two high-profile experts will debate the merits of hydraulic fracking Monday at Brookhaven College Geotechnology Institute in Farmers Branch.

Pro-fracking filmmaker Phelim McAleer will debate Calvin Tillman, the outspoken former mayor of DISH who took on the oil and gas industry in that town.

The debate starts at 7 p.m. at the college, 3939 Valley View Lane, Farmers Branch.

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It comes just eight days before Denton voters consider banning fracking in that city. If the ban passes, Denton would be the first city in Texas to do so and the implications of that could spread throughout the country and the world, according to industry experts. Proponents of the fracking ban see that as the only way to prevent drilling and fracking within close proximity to homes.

Both sides of the debate will be represented in Farmers Branch.

McAleer directed the pro-industry film "FrackNation" in direct response to the "Gasland" documentaries. He famously challenged the director of "Gasland," saying the scenes where tap water caught fire were from naturally occurring methane and not related to nearby fracking activity.

DISH is a small Denton County town that sold its naming rights to DISH Network. As the mayor, Tillman said his family started having nosebleeds and other health problems because of fracking and drilling operations in the Barnett Shale. He has since moved out of DISH.

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Nicholas covers the energy, manufacturing, aviation and transportation beats for the Dallas Business Journal. Subscribe the Energy Inc. newsletter