LONGMONT – Leaders of a northern Colorado city have approved a $3 million deal with two energy companies to stop surface oil and gas drilling.

Longmont city councilors voted 6-1 for the agreement Tuesday night, saying it was the best they could do to protect the city from drilling under state law.

The city will pay TOP Operating Co. to plug and abandon eight wells and never drill in the city again. Cub Creek Energy LLC would give up its right to drill there as long as the state approves its plan to drill near Union Reservoir outside town.

The Longmont Times-Call reports the deal wouldn’t stop oil and gas from being accessed indirectly through horizontal drilling, including drilling under the reservoir. The lone no vote, Joan Peck, called that possibility “criminal.”