A Boulder County judge is allowing state regulators to join a lawsuit from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association challenging Longmont's ban on hydraulic fracturing.
The Longmont Times-Callreports the decision allows the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to join the trade association as another plaintiff in the suit. In her ruling, District Court Judge D.D. Mallard said the state agency has different interests than COGA, the state’s largest oil and gas industry group.
Fracking has been a contentious issue for many Front Range cities for several years, as drilling rigs have moved ever-closer to homes and businesses. A handful of cities, including Fort Collins, have tried putting the brakes on the practice. Voters in Longmont passed a ban on the practice last November.
Longmont voters passed the ban on hydraulic fracturing last November, prompting legal challenges almost immediately. Industry officials say they want to be able to continue extracting oil and gas through fracking, as they have done for years.
