On Tuesday night, June 4, 2013, the Boulder City Council approved a one year moratorium on fracking. The moratorium will prevent drilling permits from issuing in the City of Boulder and open space owned by the City. In addition to the fracking moratorium, the council also passed an ordinance that prohibits the use or sale of Boulder water for fracking purposes.

The council also discussed bringing a ballot measure in November to approve a longer-term ban. Ballot measures continue to gain momentum throughout Colorado, and industry organizations are gearing up to mount campaigns against such ballot measures.

According to media reports, approximately forty people spoke during the public comment—all but one was opposed to fracking. The City Council’s vote comes on the heels of public screenings in Boulder of FrackNation, which portrays the positive attributes of drilling, and GasLand2, which takes opposing views. The City of Boulder is following in the footsteps of the City of Longmont, which is currently embroiled in litigation with the State of Colorado over its fracking ban. Unlike the City of Boulder, Boulder County voted to allow hydraulic fracturing in Boulder County in December, 2012.

Media coverage can be found here and here.

We will continue to follow developments in Colorado concerning fracking bans and moratoriums.