Santa Maria has denounced an online petition asking its City Council to ban fracking in city limits, stating there are neither any applications to frack nor any “active or idle petroleum wells anywhere within the city’s parks, retention basins, or greenbelts.” Petition creator Amy Anderson ​— ​a 20-year Santa Maria resident who volunteers for Measure P, which would ban all fracking, acidizing, and cyclic-steaming operations in the county’s unincorporated areas ​— ​pointed to the council’s 2012 approval of development rules for oil production on Area 9, an 890-acre parcel on the city’s west side. Anderson said she plans on presenting the petition ​— ​it gained 379 signatures since posting in early August ​— ​to the council in October. Of Area 9, city officials stated, “No specific authorization was given for fracking there or in other open spaces of the city.”

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