Anne Harper and her neighbors feel powerless to stop the Encana Corporation from adding 12 gas wells within a half mile of their homes in Pleasant View Ridge – a rural community that straddles unincorporated Boulder and Weld counties.
Harper doesn’t own mineral rights on the land, so she would have no legal recourse should there be any underground chemical leaching, blocked roads, spillage, explosions, noise pollution or any other infringement on her quality of life often associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Monday, she joined more than 30 fracking opponents packing a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission meeting in Greeley to charge the commission with failing to regulate energy development “in a manner consistent with the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including the environment and wildlife resources,” as the commission states in its mission.
Coloradans Against Fracking, a coalition of 40 groups, showed up to declare that the commission is an illegitimate representative of the public interest. After delivering their message, the group walked out.
CAF’s two-page declaration accuses the COGCC of privileging the oil and gas industry while shutting out citizens’ input.
“Toxic air pollution, explosions, fires, earthquakes, and toxic spills contaminating ground water and polluting rivers and streams all continue to occur,” the declaration states. “Therefore, Coloradans Against Fracking must, in all moral conscience, reject any authority the failed Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission claims to hold.”
The meeting was convened to discuss two recommendations from Gov. John Hickenlooper’s oil and gas taskforce. The first recommendation would require oil and gas companies to consult with local governments about the location of large scale facilities. The second calls on companies to keep towns and cities in the loop about long-term extraction plans. Both are meant to facilitate more collaboration between industry and municipalities.
COGCC’s outreach meetings along the Front Range and Western Slope are designed to make space for input from local governments and other stakeholders, but activists say their voices aren’t being heard.
Harper called the COGCC “ineffective and non-communicative” with community members like herself “who have been fighting to preserve the Pleasant View area from these egregious industrial sites that will ruin our lives.”
In an email to The Colorado Independent, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Todd Hartman said COGCC “respectfully disputes these many assertions.” In response to the declaration, he “would simply point to our long record of work across all interests to strike the right balance in regulating the development of our important energy resources and protecting communities and our environment.”
The COGCC listening tour already visited Broomfield, Brighton and Rifle. After its final stop in Durango on Thursday, the commission will start drafting rules to be reviewed in formal stakeholder meetings at the end of summer or early fall.
Photo via Karen Updike, Coloradans Against Fracking.
that was the plan all along…in order to silence us, Gov. Franenlooper sold us a bill of goods…Polis, was only worried about his own self…we have been steam rolled once again by Big Oily….
Meanwhile Ann Harper and neighbors enjoy all the benifits from severance taxes collected from oil and gas extraction in there schools, road infrastructure, police and fire protection and all the economic blessings that come with the business under the watchful eye of the the most regulated oil and gas State in the nation. As they drive away and go to there homes and continue to consume and reap the benifits I wonder that if they had the mineral rights to there property, Would they be singing the same tune…Thank You COGCC for trying to work with all the consumers in a Lawful,safe and regulated mannor with everyone’s intrust in mind.
Greeley and Weld County, Colorado News
April 13, 2015
Noble Energy to pay $7.75 million less in 2012 taxes in Weld County
Where is the money coming from?
Noble Energy Inc. is going to pay more than $7.75 million less in 2012 taxes after the Weld County commissioners approved a petition for abatement Monday. Here’s where the largest portions of the tax money will come from.
Weld County government: $2,340,600
Aims Community College: $854,656
Valley Re-1 School District (LaSalle/Platteville/Gilcrest): $633,568
Platte Valley Re-7 School District (Kersey): $509,789
High Plains Library District: $437,433
Greeley-Evans School District 6: $382,335
LaSalle Fire Protection District: $233,948
Johnstown/Milliken Re-5J School District: $217,791
Longmont Re-1J School District: $211,560
Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District: $196,903
Some tax districts will gain money from Noble’s revised 2012 tax filing. Here are the districts that will gain the most.
Sand Hills Metropolitan District: $112,721
Brighton Re-27J School District: $11,507
Prairie Re-11J School District (New Raymer/Stoneham/Buckingham): $6,379
Pawnee Re-12 School District (Grover/Hereford/Keota): $5,230
Greater Brighton Fire Protection District: $2,466
Source: Weld County assessor’s office