Colorado health regulators have taken an important step toward better protecting our state’s streams and lakes by requiring oil and gas companies to play by the same rules imposed on other businesses.
The nation has done a good job of cleansing pollution from specific points, such as factory waste pipes. But only in recent years has the country tackled the difficult problem of controlling pollution from larger sources such as construction sites. On poorly run construction projects, rain and snowmelt can carry harmful sediment and other pollutants into nearby drainages.
State regulations require homebuilders, road crews and workers on other construction projects to prevent pollution from escaping their sites. For example, most construction projects are surrounded by plastic-like barriers that stop sediment from escaping the work site.
The penalties for ignoring the rules reflect the seriousness of the environmental threat. In December, for example, the state fined contractors on Interstate 25’s huge T-REX project $215,000 for violating the rules.
Oil and gas projects more than 5 acres in size also must comply with the runoff prevention regulations.
But there has been a exception for smaller oil and gas developments, those from 1 to 5 acres in size. The loophole has grown more troublesome because of the rapid pace at which oil and gas development is occurring in Colorado, especially on the Western Slope.
Two years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to issue nationwide rules for oil and gas facilities 1 to 5 acres in size. But it delayed the rules in 2003 and postponed them again last year.
The EPA’s current plan is to begin enforcing the rules for small oil and gas sites in June 2006. However, even if the EPA sticks to this tardy schedule, the 15-month delay could result in substantial harm to our state’s waters, experts told the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission during a March public hearing.
Gunnison County officials said they’ve documented worse runoff problems (mostly sediment) from small oil and gas construction sites than from some big energy projects. The paradox arises, apparently, because the small sites aren’t taking the same precautions that big projects must implement.
So this month, the commission finalized new rules requiring small oil and gas projects to comply with runoff control rules, effective June 30. All the state is asking, really, is for the oil and gas industry to do what already is required of any other business.
