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Bills Filed To Stop Local Bans On Oil And Gas Production

Hundreds gathered at a public meeting in Oklahoma City to hear about an oil company's proposal to drill near Lake Hefner.
Joe Wertz
/
StateImpact Oklahoma

Several bills filed for the upcoming 2015 legislate session rein in the power cities and counties have to regulate drilling and oil and gas production.

The Oklahoman‘s Paul Monies reports:

At least eight bills have been filed that would stop cities and counties from banning drilling operations, including proposals from top leaders in the House and Senate. … The bills at the Legislature would stop cities and counties from enacting bans on “drilling, completing, fracture stimulating or operations of oil and gas wells, or produced water disposal wells.” Local communities would still be able to impose limits on where drilling could take place.

As Monies reports, the legislation comes as some residents in communities — notably, Norman, Oklahoma City, Slaughterville and Stillwater — call for limits or bans on drilling, hydraulic fracturing or wastewater injection wells.

Environmentalists and concerned residents have been emboldened by successful, high-profile municipal-level fracking bans in New York, Ohio and Denton, Texas.

The full list, via Monies:

The bills filed at the Legislature are: House Bill 1395 by Rep. Casey Murdock; HB 1722 by Rep. Leslie Osborn; HB 1954 by Rep. Weldon Watson; HB 2124 by Rep. Mark McBride; HB 2178 by House Speaker Jeff Hickman; Senate Bill 341 by Sen. Ron Justice; SB 468 by Sen. Bryce Marlatt; and SB 809 by Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman.

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StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership among Oklahoma’s public radio stations and relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state. He previously served as Managing Editor of Urban Tulsa Weekly, as the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Oklahoma Gazette and worked as a Staff Writer for The Oklahoman. Joe was a weekly arts and entertainment correspondent for KGOU from 2007-2010. He grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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