Here's a story about the effort to get an amendment on the fall ballot protecting water supplies from oil and gas drilling, from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article, "An effort is under way to gather the signatures of nearly 68,000 Colorado voters to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the November general election ballot to help landowners affected by oil and natural-gas development. Colorado Land Owners for Fairness, organized by Glenwood Springs real estate agent John Gorman, started the effort Monday. Gorman's group hopes to succeed in the fall where the Legislature failed in the spring when a bill sponsored by state Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, was withdrawn after much fanfare and politicking. Gorman's group wants to amend the Colorado Constitution to require mineral developers to pay the fair value of damages created by mineral development. The group has until 3 p.m. Aug. 7 to turn in enough signatures to the secretary of state's office to qualify for the ballot...
"Current law requires energy companies to give landowners a 30-day notice of plans to drill on their property and urges them to try to negotiate agreements with surface owners. If that fails, the companies can post a bond of $2,000 for dry land acreage and $5,000 for irrigated property and proceed to drill. Landowners complain that gives companies all the leverage, and the bonds are too low to do any good. Greg Schnacke, executive vice president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the amendment would lead to a litigation lottery.'[...]
"Gorman said the state title review board and the Colorado Supreme Court rejected that argument. Gorman said he knows the petition effort will be an uphill battle. 'We're seeking out some of the other groups that helped in the past,' he said. The town of Silt officially endorsed the effort Monday night by a 6-1 vote, Mayor Pro Tem Tod Tibbetts said. The Colorado Association of Home Builders, environmental groups and agricultural groups supported Curry's bill when it was introduced. The home builders group, one of the more influential lobbying interests at the state capital, is not supporting the proposed amendment. Schnacke said the builders are instead working with his group, Colorado Farm Bureau and Colorado Cattlemen's Association on legislation for next year's session."
The oil and gas industry can't catch a break. Here's an article about frac'ing fluids from the Durango Herald. They write, "Five Colorado environmental groups, including two in Durango, want the state to require gas-producing firms to publicly disclose the names of the chemicals they use in drilling and other subterranean operations. In a June 14 letter to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the groups said the energy companies are using chemicals toxic to humans in producing gas and oil...
"Colborn's organization gathers and interprets research on chemicals called endocrine disruptors - substances that interfere with hormones, enzymes and growth factors. Colborn has worked for public and private agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations and the World Wildlife Fund. The San Juan Citizens Alliance and the Oil and Gas Accountability Project, both of Durango, and the Western Colorado Congress, Western Slope Environmental Resource Council and Grand Valley Citizens Alliance signed the letter. What especially interests the group is hydraulic fracturing. Known as frac'ing, the practice injects fluids under high pressure to open rock strata - coal beds in the San Juan Basin - to release gas. The liquids contain toxic chemicals harmful to humans, according to the group. Water and sand are the main ingredients in concoctions injected into coal formations to extract methane gas, said Dan Larson, the spokesman for BP America in Durango. A thickener (guar gum), similar to one found in ice cream, keeps the sand in suspension so it doesn't sink to the bottom, allowing it to keep the rock fractures open. When it's time to remove the thickener, an enzyme turns it into liquid. The agents used in the processes often are proprietary, Larson said. Energy companies don't want to share their secrets with competitors, he said. But frac'ing is necessary."
Category: Colorado Water
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