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Texas city drops voter-approved fracking ban

Last November, voters in Denton, Texas approved a ban on hydraulic fracturing amid environmental concerns. Now, the Denton City Council has voted to drop the ban.

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Tony Gutierrez/AP/File
In this July 15, 2014 file photo, from left, Topher Jones, of Denton, Texas, Edward Hartmann, of Dallas and Angie Holliday of Denton, Texas, hold a campaign sign outside city hall, in Denton, Texas.
  • By Associated Press

| DENTON, Texas

Leaders of a North Texas city have repealed a voter-approved ban on hydraulic fracturing by energy companies.

The Denton City Council early Wednesday voted 6-1 to drop the ban on fracking.

The Denton Record-Chronicle reports council member Keely Briggs dissented.

Voters in Denton, 40 miles north of Dallas, approved the ban last November amid concerns over whether the process damages the environment and causes earthquakes.

The Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association sued to block the ban.

Gov. Greg Abbott last month signed a law that bars communities from imposing local ordinances preventing fracking and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas activities.

Fracking involves blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into underground rock formations to release trapped oil and gas.

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