Broomfield Fracking Ban Upheld in Court

Header from Our Broomfield website.

An active environmental movement, Our Broomfield, pushed for a five year ban to provide experts with the opportunity to study the effects of fracking. In November, Broomfield passed the fracking ban by a margin of 20 votes.

The issue was recently brought to court due to some confusion regarding new voter residency requirements. The legal challenge was brought by pro-fracking group, Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition, and It's Our Broomfield, Too.

Judge Chris Melonakis said the five year ban on fracking stands, even though the handling of some ballots were "sloppy." In his decision, he described that Broomfield acted in good faith when conducting the election, and that the results should not be tossed out.

Officials from Broomfield released a statement that they will be revisiting their election processes and updating them as needed. Broomfield City and County Manager Charles Ozaki said that Broomfield will now move forward with hiring a "qualified, independent consultant to perform a comprehensive third-party assessment of its election procedures."

The Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition has stated that it intends to pursue other means of preserving constitutional rights in Broomfield.