The Longmont City Council this week voted 7-0 to impose a 120-day moratorium on oil and gas drilling applications. The pause gives the city time to tighten its drilling regulations, partly in response to community concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
TOP Operating of Lakewood has plans for five drilling sites near Union Reservoir and Sandstone Ranch, but no application has been put forward yet.
State law does not allow a city to ban drilling within its boundaries, although it can set standards on how and where it occurs.
Longmont’s vote follows votes by Colorado Springs and El Paso County governments placing temporary limits on fracking. Commerce City on Monday agreed to take 30 days to study a proposed six-month moratorium on fracking within city limits. Aurora has drafted a six-month moratorium, but the ordinance has not yet been introduced.
