{"id":39141,"date":"2014-11-06T12:23:31","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T18:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=39141"},"modified":"2014-11-06T14:34:50","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T20:34:50","slug":"denton-voted-to-ban-fracking-so-now-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/11\/06\/denton-voted-to-ban-fracking-so-now-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Denton Voted To Ban Fracking. So Now What?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cathy<\/a>

Mose Buchele<\/p>

Cathy McMullen was an organizer with Frack Free Denton, the group that pushed for the ban.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week Denton, Texas became the first city in the state to ban fracking within its city limits. The ban passed with nearly 59 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n

Many in Denton worry about how fracking and associated\u00a0activities\u00a0impact their health and quality of life. \u00a0But opponents say\u00a0the ban is\u00a0bad for the economy. The drilling industry, which pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars<\/a> into the campaign against the ban, is concerned with the precedent Denton could set for other Texas towns.<\/p>\n

Just hours after the vote, the Texas Oil and Gas Association <\/a>(TxOGA) filed a legal challenge to the ban, as did the Texas General Land office\u00a0with a suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There may be more legal challenges on the way.<\/p>\n

The TxOGA lawsuit asserts that\u00a0“the public policy of Texas is to encourage the full and effective exploitation of our mineral resources,” says Tom Phillips, a lawyer with Baker Botts<\/a> who is working on the challenge.<\/p>\n

“The Texas legislature has passed a number of statutes giving [state regulators] the right and the\u00a0duty\u00a0to pass rules and regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing,” Phillips says, “because of that assumption of power by the state, no city has the right to totally ban hydraulic fracturing within the city limits.”<\/p>\n

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