Derrick and platform of drilling gas wells in Marcellus Shale, courtesy of Wikimedia user Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, have been fighting gas companies on several fronts in recent years to keep the controversial drilling practice away from their cities and towns. New York State has enacted a moratorium on the practice based on the uncertainties regarding fracking’s health and environmental effects, and other states are considering similar measures. Vermont has also banned the practice, although that was largely a symbolic gesture because the state likely has very little if any natural gas or oil.
Texas, however, has always been known as one of the states where oil flows freely—it produces more oil and natural gas than any other U.S. state. In the college town of Denton as in many other Texas cities and towns, many municipal projects have been funded through taxes on oil and gas development. But some residents felt the oil and gas industry went too far when they started installing wells near a public park and within 250 feet of homes. In November 2014, the city’s residents passed a referendum to ban fracking with 59% of the vote. Denton is one of more than 150 towns that have passed laws against fracking.
Two lawsuits challenging the ban in Denton were filed the day after the vote, but rather than waiting for the outcome, the Texas state legislature fought back and voted to prohibit cities from banning fracking. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 40 on May 18. The law, which is effective immediately, not only prevents cities from banning fracking, it also limits their ability to control where companies drill in their communities and to regulate other aspects like wastewater disposal wells.
At least four other states—Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Ohio—are considering similar bills to limit the ability of local governments to restrict oil and gas development activities. Shortly after Oklahoma’s government acknowledged that oil and gas industry activity is linked to the recent surge in earthquakes, the state legislature passed two bills to limit local governments from directly regulating the oil industry. SB 809 allows “reasonable” local ordinances related to “road use, traffic, noise and odor,” but prohibits the direct regulation of oil and gas exploration, drilling, or fracking. SB 468 would make any interference with oil and gas production a “taking” of property, enabling owners of mineral rights to seek monetary compensation. Both bills have been sent to Governor Mary Fallin for signature.
Colorado House Bill 15-1057 was approved by the House and Senate and signed by Governor John Hickenlooper on May 18, and while it doesn’t ban fracking bans, it does make it harder for local governments to prohibit fracking. The bill, which had bipartisan support, requires that any citizen ballot initiatives include a fiscal impact statement prepared by the nonpartisan Legislative Council. Anyone gathering petition signatures must have the fiscal note available for potential signers to view. Fracking opponents say it will make passing laws tougher, but lawmakers said they want residents to know how limiting fracking will affect the local economy.
While communities generally view fracking as good from a financial perspective, recent reports have linked wastewater injection wells, and possibly even the fracking process itself, to earthquakes in Oklahoma, and one study reported that emissions from fracking wells could travel more than a hundred miles downwind. Even the Texas Railroad Commission is hiring a second seismologist and holding a public hearing in early June to help it determine what additional steps to take in considering the possible connection between oil and gas development activities and recent earthquakes in Texas.
What do you think? How should governments balance the economic versus the environmental effects when it comes to fracking?
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