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The opposition to fracking in Colombia has been simmering for some time, but reached a new level last week after Santander’s Departmental Assembly unanimously voted against the technique in their territory.

The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) issued a report blasting the environmental and social impact which it alleges Pacific E&P has caused in Meta, and it was picked up in national media.

The head of the National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) Claudia Victoria González Hernández and MinAmbiente Luis Gilberto Murillo made a visit to Cartagena as part of a national campaign to meet with the teams of regional environmental entities.

Another conflict brewing in Putumayo has come about after a community fully-rejected a seismic program in its territory during a prior consultation, but the license was granted, providing a test case on the limits of the process.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has signed onto one of the largest efforts in Colombia to protect endangered wildlife species, in conjunction with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and others. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

“With little information and less preparation, the government has already signed 13 contracts to produce oil with these controversial technology”, warns a national publication, and says that fracking is a risky answer to Colombia’s falling reserve count.

Public rejection of an environmental license for production near “the world’s most beautiful river”, Caño Cristales, might have led the revoked license of Hupecol, but the uncertainty is much bigger, considering how many more projects are in the same area.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has applied for modifications to its environmental licenses to drill new wells in the vicinity of Barranca. It has met with residents from 120 area villages to socialize the changes and impact it could have on the community. Municipal authorities say they will verify the work.

An alliance of the Bogotá government, green waste management firm Sistema Verde and cement producer Argos looks to round up the thousands of abandoned tires in the capital’s streets and process them, even resulting in fuel. This and other environmental stories in our periodic summary.

Claudia González Hernández, the interim director of the National Agency of Environmental Licenses (ANLA) insists that the entity is merely enforcing the standards and norms as stipulated by law, and that it is not responsible for any drop in investment in projects.