Denton

Denton, TX Residents Gather For Frack Free Fridays

June 28, 2015 Staff, www.bprisingtide.org Resist! Denton, Fracking, Texas

By Staff of Blackland Prairie Rising Tide. Frack Free Fridays got off to a great start this morning with coverage on WFAA’s ‘Good Morning Texas.‘ One of the 10 Denton residents arrested attempting to enforce our ban had this to say: “The message that I would say is it’s not only about Denton. It’s about local control and how it was robbed from us by the Texas legislature. So look out, your community is next.” – Elida Tamez If you’re interested in joining us for future Frack Free Friday events, sign up here. Meanwhile, here’s some photos from today’s event. Once again residents from the neighborhood directly across the street joined us. Residents attempted to slow down trucks entering the frack site, but no arrests were made today. Last week, local Denton mother Meredith Buie was arrested for peacefully sitting down in front of a fracking truck attempting to enter a Vantage Energy well site located less than 200 feet from nearby houses and businesses.

92-Year-Old Booked Into Jail After Fracking Protest

June 18, 2015 WFAA, www.khou.com Resist! Denton, Fracking, Law

By WFAA - A 92-year-old woman was taken into custody and booked into the Denton jail for a short time on Tuesday after protesting at a fracking site. Violet Palmer said she knew that was a possibility when she joined her son and a small group of protesters outside a drilling operation on the west side of the city Tuesday morning. "I did feel compelled," she said. "I feel like I must do something." Palmer, who is blind, said the officers were courteous and she was never handcuffed. Police said it is unlikely charges will actually be pressed. Palmer said she is outraged that a new state law from Austin essentially voids Denton's local ban on fracking, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in November.

Fracking Returns, But Denton Vows To Keep Fighting

June 6, 2015 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Denton, Environment, Fracking, Law, Oil & Gas

By Zahra Hirji in Inside Climate News - Two weeks after Denton's fracking ban was rendered illegal by a sweeping new state law restricting local control of oil-and-gas activities, residents of the north Texas town are frustrated, upset and conflicted about how best to respond. Emotions were on display at this week's Denton City Council meeting, where more than 30 people weighed in on whether the city should repeal the ban. Following the public's advice, the seven-member council decided against repealing the ban—for now—after more than five hours of testimony and discussion. "Fracking is happening right now in our community, again, and it's pretty clear that in our community, people do not want fracking to happen," said Ron Seifert, a Denton resident and environmental activist, to the council. "So my question is: What is the city prepared to do to follow through with the will of the people here?"

Dissecting Denton: How A Texas City Banned Fracking

December 18, 2014 Jim Malewitz, www.texastribune.org Organize! Denton, Energy, Environment, Fracking, Oil & Gas

McMullen, who at that time had just moved into a house about 1,500 feet away from the proposed site, joined others in raising concerns about bringing the gas industry and hydraulic fracturing — widely known as fracking — so close to where kids play. Fracking, which involves blasting apart underground rock with millions of gallons of chemical-laced water to free up oil and gas, “is a brutal, brutal process for people living around it,” McMullen says. Their efforts in city hall failed. If McMullen felt invisible five years ago, she doesn’t anymore. Today, state lawmakers, the oil and gas industry and national environmental groups have become acutely aware of Denton, home to two universities, 277 gas wells and now, thanks to a rag-tag group of local activists, Texas’ first ban on fracking.

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