The city council of Denton, Tex., has rejected a petition for a hydraulic fracturing ban, sending the proposal to a public ballot in November.
The 5-2 vote to reject the ban followed 8 hr of public testimony at a July 15 city council meeting.
Justin Scott, an associate with the law firm Baker & Hostetler, said the council's actions follow the expiration of an agreement between the city and Dallas-based EagleRidge Energy LLC. The company was drilling in the city limits under legacy permits issued before nearby neighborhoods were developed.
The ban exemplifies the complications that can arise with drilling near residential areas. Denton, a growing town northwest of Dallas, sits atop a portion of the Barnett shale.
The city council vote was called after the Denton Drilling Awareness Group presented it with a 1,900-signature petition calling for a fracing ban.
The city was to remain under a separate hydraulic fracturing moratorium until Sept. 9, 2014, while council members reviewed municipal ordinances and regulations related to gas well drilling.
The moratorium, unanimously adopted by the city council in May, "prohibits the acceptance, receipt, processing, or approval of applications for gas well permits" within corporate city limits.
The city previously amended its ordinances and regulations relating to gas well drilling in January 2013.
