{"id":24357,"date":"2015-07-02T06:15:14","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T11:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=24357"},"modified":"2015-07-02T10:17:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T15:17:55","slug":"as-communities-prepare-for-new-state-fracking-rules-one-city-will-wait-and-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/07\/02\/as-communities-prepare-for-new-state-fracking-rules-one-city-will-wait-and-see\/","title":{"rendered":"As Communities Prepare for New State Fracking Rules, One City Will Wait and See"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_24358\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pocheco\/8333539441\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-24358\" alt=\"donkey-head\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/donkey-head-620x411.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"411\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Sarah Nichols \/ Flickr<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<\/div><p>Gov. Mary Fallin signed controversial legislation in May outlawing municipal bans on fracking and other oil and gas activities. Officials in some communities are re-examining their local drilling ordinances to comply with the law, which goes into effect later this summer.<\/p><p>One city in southeastern Oklahoma, however, isn\u2019t budging.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/212898108%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-xz8Ul&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Meet \u2018Ordie\u2019<\/h3><p>When McAlester Mayor Steve Harrison first heard state lawmakers were writing a law to end citywide bans on fracking and drilling, he contacted his state representative. He then called local leaders in other cities and, later, penned a protest letter to Fallin.<\/p><p>It didn\u2019t work. The bill was signed into law May 29. Harrison\u2019s final move was writing a eulogy, dubbed \u201cRequiem for an Ordinance: 1974-2015.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cOrdie, as I like to call him, never caused trouble for anyone while he was here. Leastwise, I never heard a complaint,\u201d Harrison says, reciting the sarcastic ode, which was published in the mayor\u2019s newsletter.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/212898706%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-VsQyH&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true\" height=\"250\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Want to hear McAlester Mayor Steve Harrison\u2019s sarcastic \u201cRequiem for an Ordinance\u201d in full? Check out the full eulogy, which we mixed with a little over-the-top funeral music.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/><p>\u201cWe were told an ordinance down in Texas had created a ruckus, and that since Ordie was related, he would have to go,\u201d he continues. \u201cNow, I didn\u2019t know that Ordie even knew anybody in Texas. He didn\u2019t get out much. If he had any Texas relatives, he didn\u2019t admit it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Outlaw ordinances<\/h3><p>Harrison\u2019s Lone Star quip refers to the voter-approved fracking ban in Denton, Texas, which was enacted in November 2014. The Denton frack ban spooked lawmakers in Texas and Oklahoma. State lawmakers in both states have since outlawed such ordinances.<\/p><p>In Oklahoma\u2019s 2015 legislative session, more than a half-dozen bills were filed to preempt towns, cities and counties from prohibiting fracking, drilling and other types of oil and gas activities. The prevailing legislation was authored by House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview.<\/p><p>In debate at the state Capitol, Hickman addressed McAlester\u2019s ordinance specifically. Since 1974, the city of about 18,000 has banned drilling within the city limits.<\/p><p>\u201cIs this bill going to completely wipe that out?\u201d Rep. Brian Renegar, D-McAlester, asked the speaker during debate over the legislation.<\/p><p>\u201cYes,\u201d Hickman replied. \u201cThey [the city] would need to update that with reasonable restrictions that are authorized in here, but they could not have a blanket ban.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_24377\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-24377\" alt=\"McAlester Mayor Steve Harrison.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/20150626-mayor-harrison001_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/20150626-mayor-harrison001_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/20150626-mayor-harrison001_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/20150626-mayor-harrison001_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2015\/07\/20150626-mayor-harrison001_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">McAlester Mayor Steve Harrison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Delays, updates<\/h3><p>Other city officials spoke out against the bill as lawmakers debated it during the legislative session. The anti-frack ban law doesn\u2019t go into effect until August, but it\u2019s already changing local drilling ordinances across Oklahoma.<\/p><p>For months, Stillwater has been working on an update to its \u201970s-era drilling rules. Some residents, many rattled by earthquakes that are linked to oil and gas production and routinely shake the area, have pushed for tougher local drilling ordinances. Before the legislative session had even wrapped, city leaders \u2014 assuming the bill would inevitably become law \u2014 delayed discussion and re-examined drafts of the proposed ordinance.<\/p><p>The situation is similar in Norman, says Mayor Cindy Rosenthal. In mid-July, an updated oil and gas ordinance will get a second reading. She says the proposed rules were written to comply with the new state drilling law. One change spells out a specific process by which oil and gas companies can challenge the city\u2019s rules as unlawful under the new state mandate.<\/p>\n<h3>Parks, prohibition<\/h3><p>I interviewed McAlester Mayor Harrison at Chadick Park, which divides downtown and one of the city\u2019s oldest neighborhoods. The location is significant, he says, because it illustrates an element essential to community leaders\u2019 opposition to the new state law.<\/p><p>The ability to prohibit certain types of activities, Harrison says, is central to municipal zoning authority. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what zoning ordinances do by specifying land use,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>McAlester, like all cities, has created separate zones where certain types of business activities are permitted or disallowed.<\/p><p>\u201cWe can\u2019t have a barbershop or a beauty salon in a residential area, but now we\u2019re supposed to allow oil wells,\u201d Harrison says.<\/p>\n<h3>Big business<\/h3><p>Oil and gas drilling is a special kind of business \u2014 especially in big-energy Oklahoma. Mineral rights are a class of property afforded special oversight and strict legal protections. That \u2014 in combination with the new anti-frack ban legislation \u2014 is why officials in some cities have scrambled to re-tool their local drilling rules.<\/p><p>In McAlester, however, there\u2019s no rush.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to leave our ordinance in place,\u201d Harrison says. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason, I think, to change it.\u201d<\/p><p>Harrison hopes lawmakers will amend the law in 2016 to grandfather in existing city drilling ordinances. Until then, \u201cif somebody were to try to drill within the city limits in opposition to the ordinance then obviously we\u2019d have to look and see what legal remedies we might have at that point,\u201d he says.<\/p><p>Inner-city oil and gas production is accompanied by a list of headaches long enough to drive most energy companies to drill elsewhere. In 2010, the City of Tulsa updated its century-old ban on drilling within the city limits but still hasn\u2019t issued any permits or been approached by any parties interested in drilling there, says city spokesperson Michelle Allen.<\/p><p>McAlester is far from being considered the petroleum capital of the Great Plains, but Harrison says survey crews have identified oil and gas deposits underneath the city. To his knowledge, no oil company has ever asked to drill within the city limits.<\/p><p>Harrison, who spent most of his career working for the energy industry, says that could change if \u2014 or when \u2014 the price of oil goes up. Even if a large energy company isn\u2019t interested in drilling, future high oil prices could drive a smaller outfit or an individual to seek an inner-city drilling permit.<\/p><p>\u201cNow it\u2019s an issue,\u201d Harrison says. \u201cIt may happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Mary Fallin signed controversial legislation in May outlawing municipal bans on fracking and other oil and gas activities. Officials in some communities are re-examining their local drilling ordinances to comply with the law, which goes into effect later this summer.One city in southeastern Oklahoma, however, isn\u2019t budging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":24358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[630,238,270,631],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24357"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24367,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357\/revisions\/24367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}