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Denton, Texas passed a ban on fracking last week. (Photo courtesy of Frack Free Denton)

Denton, Texas passed a ban on fracking last week. (Photo courtesy of Frack Free Denton)

Texas Regulator Says She Won't Honor Town's Fracking Ban

Statement by Railroad Commission Chairwoman is just latest attack on ban since it passed one week ago

Sarah Lazare

A Texas regulator declared last week she will not honor a fracking ban passed in the midterm elections by the town of Denton, in the north of the state.

Christi Craddick, Chairwoman of the Texas Railroad Commission, which is charged with regulating the oil and gas industries in the state,  told the Dallas Morning News on November 6, "It’s my job to give permits, not Denton’s... We’re going to continue permitting up there because that’s my job." The chairwoman is the daughter of Republican state representative and former House speaker Tom Craddick.

Adam Briggle from the Denton Drilling Awareness Group told the Dallas Morning News in response to Craddick's statement, "They should have got a wake-up call, but it's like they're still just sleeping."

The regulator's statement is not the first attack on the ban since it passed one week ago.

Just a day after the ban passed, the Texas Oil and Gas association filed an injunction in a bid to prevent it from being instated. In addition, the Texas General Land Office filed a separate lawsuit to block the new rule.

Denton was one of several communities across the United States to pass fracking bans last week.

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