The number of oil and gas wells operating in Colorado climbed 30 percent in the past six years to 29,000. Yet the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has just eight inspectors to cover the entire state – so most wells undergo safety and environmental inspections only once every three years. That’s unacceptable. While the commission got legislative approval to hire two more inspectors last year, it must be better positioned to handle the growing workload.
Accelerating energy development is colliding with the growth of subdivisions and home purchases in formerly rural areas. Not only do commission staffers have to inspect more wells, they’re being asked to respond to more citizen complaints.
The commission plays a key role in managing the state’s energy boom. Federal agencies grant leases on national forests and other public lands and even on private lands where Uncle Sam still owns the mineral rights. But it’s the state that enforces many of the basic rules on public and private land.
The commission’s historic role has expanded beyond just making sure energy companies don’t pump out resources that don’t belong to them. The commission also is supposed to ensure that companies use proper techniques so they don’t leave excess resources in the ground or damage the geologic formations that hold the oil or gas.
But increasingly, the commission also must address social impacts and safety and environmental issues. Sometimes oil and gas fields contain toxins like hydrogen sulfide, so energy companies are required to prevent the deadly gas from leaking into the air. In other places, rock formations that contain oil and gas are near drinking water aquifers, and when landowners believe energy drilling has contaminated their wells, they take their concerns to the commission.
In the past, citizen activists complained the commission was too industry-friendly,but efforts to change its composition failed. Now the concern is more fundamental: whether the commission can keep up with all it’s being asked to do.
The legislature should study whether existing laws give the commission enough legal clout – and make sure its missions are properly balanced to protect public interests.
