Texas city that has cashed in on oil and gas boom considers ordinance to ban fracking

Residents of a Texas town that has reaped millions through hydraulic fracturing, though only 2 percent of them receive royalties, are worried about the environmental impact fracking is having on their future. Some have pushed for a ban on fracking, and town leaders have "temporarily halted all fracking as they consider an ordinance that could make theirs the first city in the state to permanently ban the practice," Emily Schmall reports for The Associated Press. Gas fields in Denton, about 42 miles north of Dallas, "have produced a billion dollars in mineral wealth and pumped more than $30 million into city bank accounts." (Wikipedia map: Denton County)

"The willingness to reject fracking in the heart of oil and gas country reflects a broader shift in thinking," Schmall writes. "In place of gas drills, some of Denton’s 120,000 residents envision a future in which their city is known for environmentally friendly commerce and the nation’s largest community garden. They’ve even embarked on a campaign to persuade the maker of Sriracha hot sauce to expand its massive pepper-grinding business here — a prospect that appeals to the local farm-to-table culture."

When fracking began in Denton in 2000, the city was much smaller, but thanks to a number of graduates from the University of North Texas and Texas Women’s University choosing to stay local and open small businesses, the population grew, Schmall writes. "Then simmering concerns over the proximity of new wells to residential areas came to a head in 2009, when nurse Cathy McMullen organized a 300-person protest against five wells planned in a meadow across from a city park."

"The Denton Drilling Awareness Group proposed tighter fracking rules and even won a series of temporary bans on new drilling permits," Schmall writes. "At the same time, drillers defied city rules that required them to line wastewater pits and prohibited them from burning off, or 'flaring,' waste gas in residential areas." McMullen told Schmall, “All that did was make people so fired up. We had no choice (but to call for an outright ban)."

The ban now goes before the City Council. If they reject it, it goes to voters in November, Schmall writes. But standing in the way are fracking companies like Rayzor Co., which has one of the largest mineral holdings in Denton, and "stands to lose about $1.75 million a year if it’s barred from fracking on its former cattle ranch." (Read more)