New York Yankees baseball great Yogi Berra had many memorable, and often quizzical, sayings. But the plum of the bunch has to be, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” The quote originally referred to the pending outcome of a baseball game; yet, it can easily be applied to a referendum on hydraulic fracturing last November in Denton, Texas.

Residents of the North Texas municipality overwhelming voted to ban fracking—59% to 41%—within city limits. But, despite the will of the voters, there is no sense of finality about the election outcome. Three months later, the state is still issuing gas well permits within city limits and legal challenges are mounting.

Three days after the votes were counted, Christi Craddick, the state Railroad Commission’s chairwoman, delivered this curveball: “I believe it’s my job to give permits, not Denton’s. We’re going to continue permitting up there because it’s my job.” The Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas.

Todd Staples, a lobbyist for the state’s oil and gas industry, followed with a fastball: “Our thought is that the Railroad Commission has the authority to govern oil and gas activities,” he told media outlets. Staples’ comment wasn’t exactly an endorsement of local control.

Shortly afterward, the Railroad Commission took a more conciliatory stand. On Nov. 12, Craddick issued a statement saying, “Let me be clear: The voice of the people of Denton should not be overruled; rather, cities and state regulators should work together to fulfill their responsibilities to the people. In the end, a solution that keeps the local and state economies strong and the will of Denton’s citizens intact is not only possible, but an obligation.”

Craddick also said in her news release that the Denton election was “plagued by a cloud of misinformation, mainly due to groups more interested in scaring people than actually understanding the complex science of minerals extraction.”

Like Craddick, Adam Biggle, an associate professor at the University of North Texas and a board member of Frac Free Denton, a grassroots organization that has fought for years to ban fracking within the municipality, responds by saying that science is actually on his side. And as of Election Day, Biggle had the voice of the people in his dugout, too. “We had overwhelming support with a diverse constituency,” he said about the election results.

Regarding Craddick’s advice that cities and regulators should work together, Biggle said, “We tried that for years. At one point we had a task force that included industry members.”

Biggle said that despite a city ordinance that required a 1,200-foot setback from residences and schools for hydraulic fracturing operations, the state approved drilling permits for tracts as close as 200 feet from homes. And frack they did. Ultimately the encroachment of fracking operations on neighborhoods fed a groundswell of anti-fracking sentiment, Biggle said. “It’s just against common sense to have industry so close to homes,” he added.

While the situation in Denton—the only city in Texas to approve an anti-fracking ordinance—may be unique, Biggle said that the populist message delivered in his town is hard to ignore. “Empower people who are the most vulnerable,” he said. “Let the local communities be the ones who decide how they want to live.”

State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, a member of the Texas House energy resources committee, is not embracing Biggle’s theory of local control when it comes to oil and gas permitting.

King is part of a group of legislators that thinks the Railroad Commission should be the chief force of oil and gas regulation anywhere in the state. “There is a role for cities, and I think we need legislation to clarify what that role is. But ultimately, the final arbiter of regulation for oil and gas has to be the Railroad Commission,” he told the Dallas Morning News.

And then there are the legal challenges. For starters, the Texas Oil and Gas Association and the Texas General Land Office have filed lawsuits against the city. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson told the Texas Tribune that “this ban on hydraulic fracturing is not constitutional and it won’t stand.” A streak of additional lawsuits is expected to follow.

“We knew we would get sued,” Biggle said. “But as long as we get a fair hearing we think we’ll be OK. The ordinance was well-drafted.”

Legal watchers expect the case to eventually trickle up to the state Supreme Court. Like Yogi said, it ain’t over yet.

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