Fort Collins, Colorado Passes Fracking Ban

Environment Colorado and Clean Water Action

Fort Collins, CO – Today, on a sharply divided 5-2 vote, the Fort Collins City Council passed an ordinance to ban exploration, drilling, and fracking within the city limits.  The vote came after weeks of highly charged public testimony in support of the ban, and newspaper editorials and lobbying by State of Colorado officials against the ban.  At the meeting over 50 people spoke during the public comment period, about 80% of those in favor of the ban on fracking.  In the end, the Mayor and four out of six councilmembers supported the ban, identifying public health and property values risks as their main concerns for City residents.

“Fort Collins took an important step forward to protect its citizens and their health and property,” said Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action, a national organization that has 2,000 members in Fort Collins.  “Fracking is a dangerous industrial process that emits cancer-causing chemicals that should not be allowed in residential areas.”

Fort Collins follows on the heels of Longmont, Colorado, whose voters approved a ban on fracking in the November 2012 election, by a 60% – 40% margin.  Over the past 12 months, the concern and public interest about fracking has escalated significantly along the Front Range of Colorado as horizontal drilling and fracking have allowed hundreds-of-thousands of acres of land in and near residential areas to be leased and fracking for oil and natural gas.

“Banning fracking is the right move for Fort Collins,” said Margaret McCall of Environment Colorado, which has over a thousand members in Fort Collins.  “Throughout the Front Range of Colorado, the groundswell of support to ban fracking is growing every week and our members in Fort Collins applaud the City Council for their leadership.”

Contacts:  Gary Wockner, Clean Water Action, 970-218-8310
                 Margaret McCall, Environment Colorado, 303-573-3871, ext 1