DENVER (AP) - The Latest on on an attempt to reinstate a northern Colorado city’s hydraulic fracturing ban (all times local):
An oil and gas industry group says reinstating a northern Colorado city’s ban on hydraulic fracturing would be illegal, even under a new state law granting local governments some authority to regulate the industry.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association said Wednesday the law doesn’t authorize bans. The group said the effort to reinstate the city of Longmont’s ban was “political theater.”
Longmont voters approved a ban in 2012, but the state Supreme Court overturned it in 2016, saying only the state could regulate the industry under laws in force at the time.
Groups called Colorado Rising and Our Longmont say the new law doesn’t specifically rule out bans.
Hydraulic fracturing is standard practice in the oil and gas formation under northern Colorado, so banning the technique would effectively ban most drilling.
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12:20 p.m.
Activists are trying to reinstate a northern Colorado city’s ban on hydraulic fracturing now that a new state law gives local governments more authority over the oil and gas industry.
Groups called Colorado Rising and Our Longmont said Wednesday they will ask a state court to allow Longmont to enforce the ban, which was approved by voters in 2012 but overturned by the state Supreme Court in 2016.
The court said only the state could regulate the industry under laws in force at the time. The new law, passed this year, lets local governments impose some rules to protect public health and the environment and limit the location of new wells.
Longmont officials and an oil and gas industry group had no immediate comment but planned to release statements later.
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