Anti-fracking group in Youngstown initiate second attempt to ban - WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Supporters of a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing say they've gathered enough signatures to place the measure back on the ballot.

This is the second attempt by a group called Frackfree Mahoning Valley, to prohibit the controversial high-pressure oil and gas drilling technique, also called fracking, inside city limits in Youngstown.

A similar proposal was defeated by voters in the spring.

"It is especially alarming to us that locally, and nationwide, heavy industrial related fracking operations are being permitted right next to our schools, our homes, farms, forests, hospitals, cemetery and parks  in our precious neighborhoods and residential areas," says Susie Biersdorfer of Frackfree Mahoning Valley.

Officials question whether the ban can be enforced because drilling in Ohio is regulated by the state, not cities.