Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Oil, gas panel hints at priorities

Lachelt would like focus on local control

LOVELAND – The Durango chairwoman of a task force addressing oil and gas regulations in Colorado offered the clearest guidance yet about what legislative recommendations might look like.

La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt, vice-chairwoman of the task force, said Friday she would like to see the task force recommend measures that respond to concerns raised about local control.

She pointed to dozens of protesters who have demonstrated outside the task force meetings, holding signs and chanting for more stringent regulations.

“To me, it’s the 64,000-pound gorilla in the room, that oil and gas facilities do not belong near homes and communities,” Lachelt told the task force and audience at the second of two meetings in Loveland. “That’s really a huge challenge for us, and the public comment has made that really clear to me that these facilities do not belong near people’s homes in their communities.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, convened the task force as part of a compromise to avoid ballot initiatives that aimed to increase setbacks of wells and offer greater local control.

The measures were being financed by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder. He agreed to drop the effort to make room for the task force.

It would take a two-thirds majority of the task force to send recommendations for legislation to the Legislature. If a majority cannot be reached, the task force would simply send a report with all perspectives of the 21 members.

The next two-day task force session will be held in Rifle on Dec. 10.

It’s unclear just how much of an appetite the Legislature would have to address those issues. Facing a split Legislature this year, it’s unlikely that controversial regulations would make it through the Capitol when lawmakers convene in January.

Lachelt suggested the task force divide into groups to address specific areas to come up with concrete proposals. A report is due Feb. 27.

She highlighted five areas, including:

A mandate on public-health standards by doing away with voluntary best-management practices.

Expanded local control.

Offering adjacent landowners a voice.

Providing surface owners more leverage to protect their property.

Addressing the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission because it is impossible to foster both oil and gas development while also protecting people, Lachelt said.

“The days of voluntary best-management practices are gone. They’re over,” said Lachelt, who has a long history of environmental activism in Southwest Colorado, having founded Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project in 1999 and served as director before becoming a county commissioner in the 2012 election.

The COGCC responded to her comments, suggesting that the commission is quite capable of handling its mission.

“We disagree that it’s impossible to meet our dual mandate and would point out that such dual mandates are the rule rather than the exception,” said COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman. “Public agencies engaged in environmental protection typically provide permitting for industries that have environmental impacts, while simultaneously supervising those impacts. There’s nothing unusual about it.

“The commission is directed to strike a balance, and that’s what we have done,” he said.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association also pointed out that Lachelt’s comments don’t necessarily represent the will of the task force.

“There’s more than 20 members of the task force, and she’s one of them, and they all were putting out ideas,” said Tisha Schuller, president of COGA. “The important next step from my perspective is what’s the process to get to a solution.”

Several local governments have attempted to pass regulations or bans on hydraulic fracturing. But the courts have sided with the state, ruling against a patchwork of rules and regulations.

“I really truly believe that we can on this task force minimize, and in some cases prevent, oil and gas impacts while allowing oil and gas operators to access their minerals,” Lachelt said. “I really believe we can achieve that.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments