WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Laws in the US state of Colorado that regulate fracking in the state’s oil and natural gas industry supersede laws approved in two local communities to ban the practice, the state Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
In the first of two rulings, the Colorado Supreme Court overturned a local law approved in the city of Fort Collins imposing a five year ban on fracking, saying "the moratorium is preempted by state law and is, therefore, invalid and 20 unenforceable."
In a second related ruling, the Supreme Court struck down an outright ban on fracking in the city of Longmont, which the court also said was pre-empted by state law.
Fracking is used in nearly every oil and gas well in the state, according to a press release by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, which filed the lawsuit. Banning the practice would effectively shut down the state’s production of fossil fuels.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process where oil and proprietary chemicals are injected into wells at high pressure to break up rock formations that impede the flow of oil and gas to the well head.
Environmental groups oppose the practice, citing cases where fracking has contaminated local water supplies.
