Judge overturns Lafayette Fracking Ban

Boulder County Judge D. D. Mallard sided with the Colorado Oil and Gas Association today overturning Lafayette’s voter approved ban on fracking. “Lafayette does not have the authority, in a matter of mixed state and local concern, to negate the authority of the State. It does not have the authority to prohibit what the state authorizes and permits.'”, the court stated in its decision. Cliff Willmeng with East Boulder County United told KGNU that yesterday’s court ruling was not a surprise. Willmeng and other residents of Lafayette last week filed a class action lawsuit against the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Governor John Hickenlooper and the state of Colorado. The motion seeks to prohibit the state’s oil and gas industry from using the Colorado Oil and Gas Act to invalidate the town’s right to self-government. The plaintiff’s say that right should include the ability to ban fracking. Last November voters in Lafayette approved a home-rule charter amendment to establish a Community Bill of Rights that bans fracking.