Breaking: Denton City Council Rejects Fracking Ban: Referendum Will Be on November Ballot

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The failure of the Denton city council to pass a fracking ban in Denton, Texas, after a meeting that went on for over eight hours last night, was no surpriseย toย Cathy McMullen, Denton resident and president of Denton Drilling Awareness Group.

โ€œThe vote was theater,โ€ McMullen toldย DeSmogBlog.

Councilman Kevin Roden was the only one to call for ban. His motion was not seconded. A motion to deny the ban was approved 5 to 2, followed by an unanimous vote to put the ban initiative on the nextย ballot.

After a landmark ruling in New York State Supremeย Courtย that upheldย a city-imposed ban on fracking in Dryden, N.Y, the battle to ban fracking in Denton is being closelyย watched.


Reagan Stinson, in front of her home in a subdivision at Bonnie Brae Street and Vintage Boulevard, across from an EagleRidge Energy site. Stinson told DeSmogBlog the constant activity at the site made it hard for her to sleep. ยฉ2014 Julie Dermanskyย ย 

Denton, a college town, sits on top of the natural gas-rich Barnett Shale. Within the city limits, there are fracking sites less then 300 feet from people’sย homes.

Dozens of residents who spoke at the meeting told city council how fracking has destroyed the qualityย of life for those who live near the frack sites. The meeting was attended by over 500 people who heard first-hand testimony of health issues, noise, traffic problems and reports of diminishing propertyย values.

McMullen’s group gathered close to 2,000 signatures for an initiative to ban new frackingย within Denton’s city limits. With all signatures verified, the initiative was presented to the city council resulting in last nightโ€™s mandatory councilย vote.

However, the group neverย expected the council to pass a ban on new fracking. The entire exercise was to get on the ballot this November so the public canย decide.


Cathy McMullen at a City Council meeting in February. ย ยฉ2014 Juileย Dermansky

Prior to the city council vote, industry and regulators fought back with their own petitions, studies andย letters.

A pro-fracking petition masquerading as an anti-fracking petition presented by workers from out of the area made the rounds in Denton in the weeks prior to the vote. It was turned over to the council at the meeting with 8,000 signatures, according to two representatives from Denton Taxpayers for a Strongย Economy.

Before the meeting, Sharon Wilson, Texas representative forย the environmental group Earthworks, heard about the petition and went to investigate. She videotaped an interaction she hadย with a man who asked if she would sign a petition thatย he said called for stronger fracking regulations in Denton. She posted that video on her blog, Blue Daze. The petition he asked her to sign actually calls for no such tightening ofย regulations.ย 


Sharon Wilson,ย Texasย representative for the environmental group Earthworks live tweeting from a council meeting earlier this year.ย ยฉ2014 Juileย Dermansky

The petition is sponsored by the Denton Taxpayers for a Strongย Economy.

โ€œThe group did not return multiple calls for comment,โ€ the Denton Record-Chronicle reports. ย โ€œNor would Tracy Taylor, owner of Taylor Petition Management of Coloradoย Springs, Colorado,ย forย whomย the canvassers wereย working.โ€

Canvassers were getting $2 a signature,ย but their payments have been goingย up to as much as $4 a signature recently, according to localย residents.

According to a private Facebook group post obtained by the Denton Record-Chronicle: โ€œIf a worker averaged more than 50 signatures per day, they wouldย receive another 75 cents per signature at the end of the drive. If they averaged more than 60 signatures, they would be paid $1 per signature bonus. The author of the post, Charles Chavez, also said the company would pay another 50ย cents per signature toward hotel and travel expenses and the work had to be finished byย Tuesday.โ€

McCullen feels bad for those who signed the petition without readingย it.

During the meeting, two citizens made a plea following a dramatic reading of Wilsonโ€™s video interaction with the people pushing the bogus petition. They asked the council to let people come to city hall and retract theirย signatures.

โ€œNow some pro industry group has their contact information and can do with it as they like,โ€ McMullen toldย DeSmogBlog.

Barry T. Smitherman, the chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, wrote to council members before the meeting, saying: โ€œThis attempt to ban drilling is extremelyย misguided.โ€

Smitherman encouraged the city council not to approve the fracking ban in aย four-page letter in which he suggests Russians could be behind the group pushing to banย drilling.

โ€œThis letter was the Railroad Commission’s first direct input into the situation in Denton,โ€ councilman Kevin Roden told CBS news.. โ€œI have no interest in an advocacy letter defending the very industry and weak regulations that have created these problems in the firstย place.โ€

Adam Briggle, vice president of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group told DeSmogBlog that the initiative to ban fracking in Denton is not about banning allย drilling.

โ€œThere are already 287 wells within Dentonโ€™s City limits,โ€ Briggle pointed out. โ€œThe group’s initiative is to ban new fracking, not stop drillingย altogether.โ€

Also released prior to the vote was a 69-page industry-funded report by the Perryman Group, sponsored by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, which says banning fracking in Denton would have an adverse economic impact. The report says millions of dollars will be lost by the city ofย Denton.

Councilman Roden criticized the timing of the reportโ€™s release on his blog before theย vote.

โ€œThey know that means there wonโ€™t be enough time for anyone talking about this issue to digest and properly analyze their data, yet theyโ€™ll get every reporter leading off with their claims taken right off the front page of their 69-page report,โ€ Rodenย wrote.

Roden’s blog post goes on to refute key points in theย report.

Briggle compared the tactics of the fracking industry to those of the tobacco industry in an op-ed published before the councilย meeting.

โ€œPeer-reviewed science verifies the harms of fracking. Shamefully, like big tobacco, the fracking industry is playing the denial game. Instead of investing in better practices, they invest in misinformation campaigns. With their un-neighborlyย ways, they have brought this ban on themselves,โ€ heย wrote.

When it was McMullen’s allotted three minutes to speak she read from a list of complaint calls made to the cityโ€™s police department against the fracking industry in theย Vintage neighborhood. After, she was asked by the council if she was an activist from the East or West coast. ย She assured them she was not. She reminded the council that banning fracking was not her groupโ€™s original goal. Her group wanted meaningful regulation but since they didnโ€™t get that, passing a ban is their onlyย recourse.ย 

Councilman Roden thanked her for her efforts to educate and protect the community over the years. Roden also thanked others who have been frequenting the council meetings for years trying to find a workable solution to protectย Denton.ย 

Dozens of pro-industry representatives from out of town who spoke against the ban at times were questioned and chastised by council members after making unsubstantiated claims.ย Industry’s message to the council was that they shouldย go back to the drawing board and work something out because ifย the ban is passed you will hurt industry nationwide, even creating international ย negative repercussions. ย 

Council members askedย pro-industry representatives ย for suggestions on how they propose the council could fix the problems facing Denton despite the restraints put on them by existing laws. No meaningful suggestions wereย offered.

These questions resulted in laughter from the audience, many who have been working with the council to create regulations before giving up and proposing theย ban.ย 

Given the tactics used in the run-up to the council vote, Denton residents should prepareย forย a massive campaign of misinformation before the ban comesย upย for a vote by citizens inย November.ย 

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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