As oil and gas drilling and leasing swept across the Front Range, counties and municipalities started adopting drilling moratoriums and ordinances — rasing the question of how much power local government has in regulating the industry.
In February, Gov. John and gave it six weeks to come up with an answer.
The group is slated to complete its work Thursday, and while it is trying to balance state and local powers by finding a cooperative way to work, it appears the core issue will remain.
“There has been some tension in the process over where to draw the line between what is local and what is the state’s,” said Barbara Green, the Colorado Conservation Voters representative on the task force and an attorney.
“There is no question local government has a role, but there are no bright lines,” Green said.
The discovery of oil in the Niobrara formation in northeastern Colorado sparked — with more than 10,000 being filed since 2009 in six Front Range counties.
The prospect of companies bringing new techniques — horizontal drilling, which can extend a mile underground, and hydrofracturing, or fracking, to break up rock — to suburban areas ignited a.
As draft rules and moratoriums were adopted by Elbert, El Paso, Douglas and Boulder counties and municipalities including Longmont, Erie and Commerce City, oil and gas industry representatives voiced concerns about .
While the task force is trying to weigh local and state roles, it won’t resolve the issue, said Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado Petroleum Association and a task force member.
“Some of it is going to be left to the courts,” Dempsey said.
The task force — which includes representatives from the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Counties Inc. — is focusing on enhancing local government’s relationship with the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
The commission approves land and drilling plans and issues a permit for every new well in the state.
The commission has provisions for a “local government designee” for municipalities and counties, who will be advised of all applications and can provide input.
“The counties where there has been oil and gas drilling have used the designee process very well,” said Jack Hilbert, a Douglas County commissioner and task force member.
“But in counties, like Douglas, where drilling is new, we really haven’t understood it,” said Hilbert, whose county last year drafted extensive oil and gas rules.
The commission, for example,
With 47,000 wells in Colorado and only 17 state inspectors, Gunnison wanted better oversight, said task force member Green, who has represented the county on oil and gas issues.
Focusing on the local designee won’t resolve all the issues, said Tisha Schuller, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and a task force member.
“This was something we could come together on,” she said.
Still, the task force’s attention to government process has left some members and observers frustrated.
“This isn’t getting to the real concerns of people,” said Brian Bagley, a Longmont councilman and task force member.
“The single biggest issue is the location of a wellhead,” Bagley said. “Where you put a rig affects property values, quality of life. This isn’t something we are discussing.”
Sonia Skakich-Scrima, founder of community group What the Frack-Arapahoe, has been following task force meetings.
“Nobody is talking about things that are most worrying — the health impacts of drilling and fracking,” Skakich-Scrima said.
“Why aren’t they talking about making health and environment impacts part of the permitting process?” she asked.
The task force is led by Mike King, director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, who will deliver the final report to the governor.
“There was an acknowledgment going in that with the scope of the issue this would be just a beginning,” King said.
Improving the relationship between local governments and the oil and gas commission is a first step, King said.
Part of the report will identify three to five “substantive” issues, such as well setbacks, that need to be addressed, King said.
“We can ask the question of whether with horizontal drilling do we gain the flexibility in where wells are sited,” King said. “The priority now is to make the public understand that we don’t see this as the end.”
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
10,000
Drilling leases filed since 2009 for the Niobrara formation
47,000
Oil and gas wells in Colorado
17
State inspectors
