Activists want city, county to take a stand against fracking

Local residents want the county and the city to take a stand against fracking near El Paso. But this comes as some state lawmakers work to strip local governments of the power to stop fracking.

Torch Light Energy Company recently began drilling test wells on land, which the UT system has leased to the company for fracking miles outside of east El Paso.

Last Friday, the Texas House passed House Bill 40, which would prohibit cities from banning fracking. In Denton, for example, residents voted to ban fracking in their city.
Many lawmakers want to make sure no other city follows those steps.

Fracking is when oil companies extract natural gas from deep in the earth. They do this by drilling deep into the ground and releasing up to 7 million gallons of water with hundreds of chemicals. Some of the chemicals are safe, though gas companies are not required to report the contents of their “fracking fluid” when they drill on state lands and are exempt from many EPA standards. Environmental activists and some scientists point out that other chemicals like benzine and methanol, found in “fracking fluid” are highly toxic.

In theory, fracking is supposed to be safe, according to the oil industry who points out the method has been used since the 1940s and helps the U.S. rely less on foreign resources. Though there have been instances when oil companies have been fined because the chemicals leaked into a community’s ground water.

State lawmakers in support of HB 40 say cities shouldn’t be able to stop fracking because fracking bans erode the rights of property owners who may want to lease their land to oil companies for fracking.

On the other side, though cities, are concerned this limits the power of its residents.

“The City of El Paso did not take a position with regard to HB 40 specifically, but the proposed legislation is an example of erosion of local control which cities across Texas are vigorously opposing. The state legislative agenda approved by the City Council authorizes opposition to any measure which diminishes local authority to regulate matters which affect the health and safety of its residents. Consequently, the City’s legislative team has been monitoring HB 40 carefully. The most recent committee substitute would allow the City of El Paso’s ordinance to remain intact because it has been in effect in excess of 5 years. We will continue to monitor the proposed legislation and advise the City Council accordingly,” wrote City Attorney Sylvia Firth in a statement to ABC-7.

“If that passes in the Senate, cities lose all right to say what happens in the ground beneath their feet,” said Cemeli De Aztlan, an activist with El Paso Equal Voice Network.

She and a group of environmental activists want the City and the County to take a formal stand against fracking in and near El Paso. Neither local governments have taken a public stand on the issue.

De Aztlan pointed out a change.org petition with more than 2,000 signatures urging the UT System to not allow fracking in the land it owns east of El Paso County in Hudspeth County.

“El Paso residents are concerned about the threat of well contamination as well as health and environmental damage to our community if hydraulic fracturing is permitted in areas near our dear water supplies,” De Aztlan told county commissioners.