Texas oil & gas group requests injunction in Denton ban

DENTON – The Texas Oil & Gas Association became the first group in the industry to legally challenge the city of Denton's ban on new hydraulic fracking projects with a request for an injunction against the ban by Denton County Wednesday.

It was believed if the ban passed in Tuesday's vote, legal action would be swift from big oil and gas companies with interests in Denton, which sits on top of a large natural gas reserve.

Denton became the first city in Texas to ban further permits for hydraulic fracking Tuesday night, with a ban passing with 59 percent of voters in favor and 41 percent against.

Thomas R. Phillips, a former Texas Supreme Court justice and a partner with law firm Baker Botts, which represents the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA), decried the results of the city's vote in a statement Wednesday and said the oil and gas group "believes that the courts of this State should give a prompt and authoritative answer on whether Denton voters had the authority under state law to enact" such a ban.

"Many of the wells in Denton cannot be produced without hydraulic fracturing, so a ban denies many mineral interest owners the right to gain value from their property, despite the State's public policy in favor of developing natural resources," Phillips said in a statement.

Denton Mayor Chris Watts said the city would make efforts to legally enforce the ban.

"The City Council is committed to defending the ordinance and will exercise the legal remedies that are available to us should the ordinance be challenged," Watts said prior to the request for injuction's filing.

"The Texas Legislature has vested extensive regulatory power over oil and natural gas development in the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)," Phillips said in his statement. "While home-rule cities like Denton may certainly regulate some aspects of exploration and drilling, TXOGA does not believe that they may enact ordinances that outlaw conduct, like hydraulic fracturing, that has been approved and regulated by state agencies such as the Railroad Commission or TCEQ."

Read the full request for an injunction filed in Denton County below: