Colorado's highest court is ready to tackle the fracking debate.
The Colorado Supreme court said Monday it would hear arguments on two cases involving cities that enacted bans or moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing.
Longmont passed a ban in 2012. Fort Collins has a five-year moratorium.
Kaye Fissinger led the charge to ban fracking in Longmont. Among the arguments at the time, three proposed wells infringing on Union Reservoir, east of the city.
"If there's a leak, or spill or anything like that - there's the risk of contaminating this water," said Fissinger.
Fissinger is driven and determined and supports the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the cases.
"It's long past time," she said. “This is not your grandfather’s fracking taking place. The practice has changed. Property rights are in the constitution, but so are the people's rights."
The other side appears just as determined and driven to prove that fractivism is over-hyped and unfounded.
In a statement Monday, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association said, “…we look forward to the Supreme Court putting further clarification that the ban implemented in Longmont and that the Fort Collins moratorium are preempted by current law and are thus illegal."
The statement goes on to say, “…we will continue to do the difficult and unsexy work of finding reasonable and workable solutions with our friends and neighbors."
Lower courts in both the Longmont case and Ft. Collins case ruled against the cities and in favor of drilling.
All sides now have six weeks to put their arguments together, which means the Supreme Court could hear these cases in early November.