Alex Mills
By Alex Mills
The good citizens of Denton will be voting on Nov. 4 whether or not to ban hydraulic fracturing .
They have been told by former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips the ban on fracturing is unconstitutional. “Under the Texas Constitution, I do not believe that a municipality may ban all oil and gas drilling within its borders,” former Chief Justice Phillips said during a hearing before the Denton City Council on July 15.
He said the ban is incompatible with state law, and it amounts to a government taking of private property of many mineral interest owners and operators. All of this could lead to years of litigation with the city of Denton strapped with the cost of defending an unconstitutional act and government taking of private proper without just compensation.
Already there has been one lawsuit filed against the city and the ban hasn’t even been approved yet. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Arsenal Minerals and Royalty and the Chandler Davis Trust, states that the city enacted drilling moratoriums in 2012 that have “compromised legal relationships and private contracts.”
In summary, the former chief justice’s said the (1) the ban is unconstitutional, (2) the ban is incompatible with state law (3) the city clearly would be taking private property, and (4) Denton would have to spend millions of dollars defending lawsuits brought by its very own citizens in many cases.
OK, so let’s say that the former chief justice got it wrong on all four issues. What other reasons could there be to vote against the ban?
How about money? Dr. Ray Perryman, founder of The Perryman Group and one of the most known economists in Texas, took a look and found that approval of the ban “would lead to significant economic and fiscal harm for individuals, businesses, schools, local governments, and other public and private entities.”
Perryman said that the City of Denton has the potential loss of $251.4 million and Denton County and Texas would be an estimated $354.8 million during the next 10 years. Estimated local taxes lost would be $10.7 million during the next 10 years.
Yeah, but those environmental groups have been saying hydraulic fracturing is dirty and poisoning our water. Well, six current and former regulators of the oil and gas industry under the Obama administration believe hydraulic fracturing is safe. Here are some of their comments:
Gina McCarthy, current administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, speaking to the National Journal on Nov. 6, 2013: “There’s nothing inherently dangerous in fracing that sound engineering practices can’t accomplish.”
Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator before McCarthy in testimony before Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on May 24, 2011: “I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracing process itself has affected water.”
Ernest Moniz, current secretary of Department of Energy stated in the Washington Examiner on August 12, 2013: “I still have not seen any evidence of fracing per se contaminating groundwater.”
Steven Chu, former secretary of DOE, told the Columbus Dispatch on Sept. 18, 2013: “This (fracing) is something you can do in a safe way.”
Sally Jewell, secretary of the Interior, told the National Press Club on Oct. 31, 2013 that: “By using directional drilling and fracing, we have an opportunity to have a softer footprint on the land.”
Even Denton’s own members of the Texas House and Senate testified against the ban at the City Council meeting in July.
The Texans across the state will be watching how the citizens of Denton vote on Nov. 4.
Alex Mills is President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The opinions expressed are solely of the author.
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