>Boulder County District Court Judge D.D. Mallard said she would allow the Colorado Oil and Gas Association to bring in the COGCC as an additional plaintiff, a move called “joinder.” In her ruling, Mallard said that while both parties had an interest in seeing the ban overturned, the state agency had aims that would not be adequately represented by COGA, the state’s largest oil and gas industry group.

“COGA’s interest in this case is to overturn the charter amendment so that its members can proceed with oil and gas production using fracking […]

Longmont voters passed the ban on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” last November with about 60 percent in favor. Supporters of the ban say the practice can lead to environmental damage; opponents say the practice is so well-established that a ban on fracking is practically a ban on drilling, and that only the state has the authority to regulate the methods used.<