As La Plata County ranchers for more than 40 years, four years ago we welcomed the overhaul of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC). Instead of a lapdog with a lopsided majority of members from the oil and gas industry, the commission became a watchdog representing all the diverse interests directly affected by oil and gas drilling: public health and the environment, natural resources, local government, agriculture, surface owners, royalty owners and the industry.
Now a number of Western Slope legislators, led by Reps. Ray Scott and Sen. Steve King, want to put the industry back in charge.
House Bill 1223 would shrink the Commission from nine to seven members and require that at least five have substantial experience in the oil and gas industry. The bill proposes that three of the five must be petroleum geologists or engineers. The two members not from the industry could include farmers or ranchers, but only if they also receive royalties for oil or gas on their land. With that membership the industry foxes wouldnt just be guarding the henhouse; they would own it.
Coloradans from all over the state worked for 17 years to reform the Commission and have a balance of interests represented on it. Since the reforms of 2007, it hasnt been a perfect agency, and weve disagreed with some decisions. But its a far cry from the old days, when the public distrust of the biased Commission fueled constant conflict. On one occasion the hostility was so strong that some Commission members were reluctant to come to La Plata County for a public hearing.
By contrast, the new Commission has invited public participation. Through an 18-month process that included testimony from all interests and hearings around the state, the Commission wrote and adopted reforms to protect Colorados water and public health.
The new rules require the industry to consider threats to human health and wildlife when applying for a drilling permit. The regulations establish protection zones around streams in watersheds that provide drinking water, require companies to tell the state and emergency responders what chemicals they use and allow state health and wildlife officials to formally consult on oil and gas development applications.
These are rules that should have been in place when the drilling boom hit southwestern Colorado in the late 1980s. They represent critical steps towards identifying threats to our public health from nearby gas activity.
Under the new rules, the industry must keep track of the chemicals it uses and identify them in the case of a spill or accident. The rules also require that an oil or gas well site be cleaned up to general health standards, once the industrial activity is completed.Were just starting to see the results of these new safeguards. They should be given the chance to work.
HB 1223 is not even the oil and gas industrys idea. Industry didnt come up with the bill, nor is it supporting the bill. The bill is the brainchild of Scott, King and other Republican members of the General Assembly. In their election campaigns they promised to get rid of Colorados new oil and gas reforms although the oil and gas industry acknowledges that the new regulations have proven manageable.
In December The Denver Post reported: Permitsissuedbythe Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission are projected to top 6,000 (IN 2010), up at least 16 percent from 5,159 in 2009. The increase suggests that Gov. Bill Ritters tightening last year of regulations governing drilling hotly contested by the energy industry have proven manageable for producers.
Those of us living with drilling deserve a balanced Oil and Gas Commission. Returning to the days of an industry-dominated commission is a huge step backwards. The sponsors of HB 1223 should pull it from consideration.
Jim and Terry Fitzgerald live in Bayfield. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
