City of Fort Collins Five Year Fracking Suspension Initiative, Question 2A (November 2013)
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A City of Fort Collins Five Year Fracking Suspension Initiative, Question 2A was on the November 5, 2013, election ballot for voters in the city of Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado. It was approved.
The measure established an ordinance prohibiting for five years the use of hydraulic fracturing, the method of extracting oil and gas known as fracking, and prohibiting for the same time the storage of any waste products associated with fracking in the city limits. This measure was on the ballot through citizen initiative petition. The ordinance approved by Question 2A also called for studies and research on whether there are in fact harmful effects that might come from fracking.[1][2]
Election results
| Fort Collins Question 2A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 20,136 | 55.36% | ||
| No | 16,235 | 44.64% | ||
- These results are from the Larimer County elections office.
Text of measure
| “ |
Issue 2A: An ordinance placing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and the storage of its waste products within the City of Fort Collins or on lands under its jurisdiction for a period of five years, without exemption or exception, in order to fully study the impacts of this process on property values and human health, which moratorium can be lifted upon a ballot measure approved by the people of the City of Fort Collins and which shall apply retroactively as of the date this measure was found to have qualified for placement on the ballot.[1][3] |
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Support
Supporters
- Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins (petitioner)[4]
- Councilwoman Lisa Poppaw
Arguments in favor
Supporters of fracking bans argued that the fracking process allows methane gas and carcinogenic and toxic chemicals to be released into groundwater. And in general, they claimed that fracking is harmful to the nearby air and water and that citizens have a right to ban it in populated areas like cities and towns.[5]
Opposition
Opponents
- Councilman Wade Troxell
Arguments against
Troxell stated that he would be in the front ranks opposing Issue 2A. He implied that the moratorium had no practical purpose and unfairly targeted the one oil company working in the city. Troxell said, "This potentially could greatly harm Fort Collins."[2]
Path to the ballot
People formed the group Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins and collected over 8,000 signatures to put their initiative on the ballot, which would suspend all fracking in city limits for five years. The required threshold for valid signatures was only 3,900 and Citizens for a Healthy For Collins cleared this easily. Campaign organizer Kelly Giddens said, "We worked really hard to get a lot of signatures from all of the citizens of Fort Collins."[6]
Related lawsuits
CO Oil and Gas Association
Immediately after election results were finalized the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA), which was one of the main opponents to the fracking bans passed in four Colorado cities on November 5, 2013, sued the city of Fort Collins and Lafayette. The lawsuit claims that the fracking bans passed on the city ballots are illegal because case law and regulations dictate that only the state has right to regulate drilling. Three groups in support of the Question 2A and the Fort Collins fracking ban, the Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins, the Sierra Club and Earthworks, have filed a motion with the District Court to be allowed to join the city as defendants against the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, claiming to have a legal interest in the outcome of the lawsuit against the city.[7]
A lawsuit was also brought against the fracking ban in Broomfield, but this suit focuses on allegedly improper vote-counting procedures used.[8]
Longmont
On May 2, 2016, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that state hydraulic fracturing laws preempted local laws. As a result, fracking bans in Longmont and Fort Collins were rendered "invalid and unenforceable." According to Mark Matthews, an attorney for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, because this issue only involved state laws, the case could not be brought to the Supreme Court of the United States, despite earlier pledges by anti-fracking lawyers and activists to do so. Dan Haley, the president and CEO of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, called the court's ruling "a win" for Colorado residents. Lauren Petrie, the Rocky Mountain region director with Food and Water Watch, which supported the fracking bans, said, "Today's decision deals a devastating blow not just to Longmont residents, but to all Coloradans."[9][10][11]
Three other cities in Colorado banned fracking through the initiative process—Boulder, Broomfield, and Lafayette. On May 19, 2016, Boulder County Commissioners lifted that county's fracking moratorium and imposed a new six-month moratorium to allow officials time to update the county's oil- and gas-related statutes. The five-year moratorium on fracking in Broomfield was suspended during the Longmont trial. The Lafayette fracking ban was invalidated by a judge over voting process issues; the city did not appeal the ruling.[9][12]
Background
In 2012, Longmont voters approved a citizen-initiated charter amendment to ban hydraulic fracturing. The measure was approved by approximately 60 percent of voters. Two lawsuits were filed against Longmont over this ban, one of which involved the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) and the state's Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as plaintiffs. According to a Colorado Open Records Act request, both lawsuits cost the city of Longmont almost $69,000 in legal fees as of March 31, 2013. On July 24, 2014, Boulder District Court Judge Dolores Mallard struck down the ban, finding that the city of Longmont "does not have the authority to prohibit what the state authorizes and permits." Mallard cited Voss v. Lundvall, a 1992 court ruling that gave states, rather than cities, control over oil and gas extraction regulations and bans. The ban, however, remained in effect, as Mallard's ruling was immediately stayed due to an appeal by the ban's supporters.[13][14][15]
On September 21, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The court stated that it would rule on lawsuits related to fracking bans passed in both Longmont (2012) and Fort Collins (2013). Groups on both sides of the issue—Our Longmont, which supported the city's ban, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which opposed such bans—welcomed the court's decision to make a ruling on the legality of local fracking bans in Colorado.[16]
Similar measures
Local
Longmont City Fracking Ban, Question 300 (November 2012)
Broomfield Five Year Fracking Suspension, Question 300 (November 2013)
City of Lafayette "Community Rights Act" Fracking Ban Amendment, Question 300 (November 2013)
City of Boulder Five Year Fracking Suspension, Question 2H (November 2013)
City of Fort Collins Five Year Fracking Suspension Initiative, Question 2A (November 2013)
City of Loveland Two Year Fracking Suspension Initiative (June 2014)
Statewide
Colorado Distribution of Oil and Gas Revenue Initiative (2014)
Colorado Environmental Rights Amendment (2014)
Colorado Local Regulation of Oil and Gas Development Initiative (2014)
Colorado Mandatory Setback of Oil and Gas Wells Amendment (2014)
Colorado Right to Local Self-Government Amendment (2014)
Michigan Fracking Ban Initiative (2014)
See also
External links
- Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins twitter
- Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins facebook page
- Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins website
- Larimer County elections office website
- Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, "HYDRAULIC FRACTURING BAN The Economic Impact of a Statewide Fracking Ban in Colorado," March 2014
Additional reading
- Coloradan.com, "Fort Collins seeks dismissal of fracking lawsuit," February 4, 2014
- Times Union, "Court fight continues over fracking moratorium," February 14, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Larimer County November 5, 2013 sample ballot, accessed October 10, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Coloradan.com, "Fort Collins voters to decide fracking moratorium," August 20, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins website
- ↑ Dangers of Fracking website, accessed October 10, 2013
- ↑ CBS Denver, "Fort Collins Fracking Opponents Gather Twice The Needed Signatures," August 6, 2013
- ↑ Coloradan.com, "Environmental groups ask to join court fight over Fort Collins fracking moratorium," February 13, 2014
- ↑ Denver Post, "Oil and gas industry sues Lafayette and Fort Collins on fracking bans," December 3, 2013
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Denver Business Journal, "Colorado Supreme Court rules on local fracking bans," May 2, 2016
- ↑ The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado, "No. 15SC668, City of Fort Collins v. Colo. Oil and Gas Ass’n—Moratoria—12 Preemption," May 2, 2016
- ↑ The Supreme Court of the State of Colorado, No. 15SC667, City of Longmont v. Colo. Oil and Gas Ass’n—Preemption—Inalienable Rights Provision," May 2, 2016
- ↑ Daily Camera, "Boulder County ends fracking moratorium, imposes another," May 19, 2016
- ↑ Coloradan.com, "As Fort Collins awaits similar fracking lawsuit, Longmont racks up $69,000 in legal fees," May 2, 2013
- ↑ Inside Climate News, "Colorado: Judge Strikes Down Town's Fracking Ban," July 25, 2014
- ↑ Times Call, "Longmont seeks reversal of ruling that overturned city's fracking ban," January 17, 2015
- ↑ Tri-City Herald, "Colorado's high court to decide if cities can ban fracking," September 21, 2015
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