The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Wednesday adopted new rules tightening safety and drinking water protections at drilling sites.
In two days of deliberations, the commission provisionally passed 50 new rules to help manage Colorado’s natural-gas drilling boom.
“We are trying to balance development of oil and gas with better protections of health and environment,” said David Neslin, the commission’s acting director.
Industry groups, such as the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and the Colorado Petroleum Association, remain opposed to the rules.
“As we have said before, as proposed, these rules are unnecessary, costly, foster business uncertainty and go well beyond the intent of the Colorado General Assembly,” according to a statement by Meg Collins, president of the oil and gas association.
In 2007, the legislature passed two bills directing the commission to draft rules to protect public safety, the environment and wildlife.
The legislature’s move was a reaction to the accelerating pace of drilling in the state, which has grown 60 percent over the past four years, according to commission data.
The commission projects a record 6,950 drilling permit applications in 2008.
“Colorado is playing catchup in this energy boom,” said Mike Chiropolos, director of lands at the environmental law group Western Resource Advocates.
Among the new rules:
• Drilling is banned in a 300-foot buffer around streams used for drinking-water supplies.
• Operators are required to keep inventories of chemicals used in drilling.
• Drillers must try to control odors and dust within a quarter-mile of a residence, school or hospital in Rio Blanco, Garfield, and Mesa counties — major areas for natural-gas development.
• Drillers in Garfield, Mesa, Rio Blanco and Gunnison counties must complete compliance checklists showing they meet health and environmental rules.
On Sept. 9, the commission will meet again to deal with a second set of rules to minimize the impact of drilling on wildlife, require more detailed applications with a public notice provision and require better liners in waste pits.
After the votes on all the rules are completed, they will be made final, Neslin said.
The rules have been the target of a media campaign by the oil and gas association, which has warned they will dampen economic activity and cost jobs.
Still, 90 percent of the rules were passed by a unanimous vote, including industry representatives on the commission. The biggest split — on the drinking-water protection rule — was 7 to 2, Neslin said.
The rules have been revised to “reflect input from a number of parties,” Neslin said.
For example, the area that drillers must install emission controls for odors and dust was trimmed from a half-mile to a quarter-mile of homes.
“We didn’t get some of the strong language we wanted,” said Elise Jones, head of the Colorado Environmental Coalition, “but it is a reasonable compromise.”
