Anti Fracking Rally

Coverage of the rally at city hall before the 4 to 4 vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would have established drilling regulations.
The ordinance failed.

This not eliminate the possibility of oil and gas drilling in the city limits.

4 months ago the initial vote was 6-3 vote in favor of the regulations.

Tuesday, Angela Dougan, Tim Leigh, Merv Bennett and Bernie Herpin voted in favor of the ordinance. Council President Scott Hente, Jan Martin, Val Snider and Brandy Williams voted against the regulations.
Councilwoman Lisa Czelatdko was AWOL.

Brandy Williams voted for the ordinance in November but changed her vote because neither state regulations nor the city's ordinance require any type of stringent water quality testing.

This leaves local drilling regulations in limbo along with oil and gas exploration in the area.
Ultra Resources drilled 3 test wells in El Paso County and owns 18,000 acres of the 21,000-acre Banning Lewis Ranch but said they were shelving plans for further drilling because of disappointing results.
Another company, Hilcorp Energy, has yet to report the results of its drilling in the county.
Ultra's fracked well showed oil within El Paso County to be "immature" and unsuitable for commercial use.

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