About 60 demonstrators gathered in front of the Norman City Hall Wednesday evening before the city council’s oversight committee met to discuss changes to the Norman’s oil and gas drilling regulations.
The Central Oklahoma Clean Water Coalition hosted the rally. Organizer Casey Holcolm says the current ordinances were written before fracking became so widespread.
Holcomb said, "Norman’s regulations are actually way far behind many other communities in the nation, and even — behind even some communities in Oklahoma. Our regulations are not as strong as Oklahoma City’s and we need to go ahead and bring things up to speed, especially with the unconventional boom which has really changed the game."
The oversight committee’s proposal to the full city council in early 2015 will include a ban on drilling in watershed areas that drain into Lake Thunderbird, Norman’s main water source and more stringent water quality testing for wells near drilling sites.
Some demonstrators said they felt excluded from the rule-making process, accusing the committee of working too closely with oil and gas companies since beginning its work in the spring.
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