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Beverly Hills Becomes First California City to Ban Fracking

Beverly Hills is one of the nation's most affluent cities and is home to numerous luxury retailers, but it is not untouched by the oil industry.

City leaders in celebrity-filled Beverly Hills voted on Tuesday to ban fracking, becoming the first municipality in California to prohibit the controversial technique for extracting natural gas and oil from underground rock deposits.

 

Environmentalists say chemicals used in the process pollute underground water supplies and cause other damage.

 

The unanimous vote by the Beverly Hills city council gives final approval to fracking ban, which was given the initial go-ahead by the panel last month. Council members, five of whom voted in favor of the ban, did not publicly discuss the measure on Tuesday. It will take effect on June 6.

 

Beverly Hills is one of the nation's most affluent cities and is home to numerous luxury retailers, but it is not untouched by the oil industry. Oil drilling has for decades occurred at Beverly Hills High School, but the city council in 2011 voted to bring that to an end in 2016.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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