Colorado joins lawsuit against federal land fracking regulations

<p>(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)</p>
<p>In this March 25, 2014 photo, heat from machinery distorts the air as a worker watches over a hydraulic fracturing operation at an Encana Corp. oil well near Mead in Weld County, Colorado.</p>
Photo: Fracking operation in Colorado (AP Photo)
In this March 25, 2014 photo, heat from machinery distorts the air as a worker watches over a hydraulic fracturing operation at an Encana Corp. oil well near Mead in Weld County, Colorado.

issued by the federal government, said the state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman on Friday.

State regulators have said that new rules won’t be a huge change for Colorado. The federal rules do call for more information about water sources and volume, as well as plans for disposing of fluids.

“To be clear, this case is not about whether hydraulic fracturing should or should not be regulated. It should be regulated, and Colorado is doing so," Coffman wrote. "However, the debate over hydraulic fracturing is complicated enough without the federal government encroaching on states’ rights."