The Colorado Supreme Court is considering whether residents have a right to demand a hearing on a proposal to drill for natural gas near a nuclear-blast site in western Colorado.
The court heard arguments Wednesday from lawyers for the state and a Garfield County citizens group over who’s entitled to a public airing of the reasons for and against drilling. At issue is the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission’s decision to grant a permit to EnCana Oil & Gas to drill within 3 miles of an area where the government detonated a nuclear device in 1969 to stimulate natural-gas production.
The state said a 2003 rule entitles only drillers, local governments and surface-property owners to such hearings. But the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance argued that that conflicts with the state’s overall oil and gas regulations, which were broadened in 2007 to require more attention to drilling’s impacts on public health and the environment.
The lawyer for the Citizens Alliance, Martha Tierney, said there has been some hesitance to opening up the process since the regulations were overhauled.
“There is some resistance to the rabble, if you will, getting in the way,” she said in response to a question from Justice Gregory J. Hobbs Jr.
Daniel Domenico of the state attorney general’s office, representing the oil and gas commission, said the regulations also require the commission to issue permits in a timely manner and that allowing anyone to request a hearing could bog down the process.
