In the 1990s, oil and gas was booming, and industry attorney Lance Astrella had it all: a thriving practice, a plump paycheck and a reputation as one of the best in the business. Then one night, disturbed by rumors of drillers trashing private property, he attended a community meeting in Denver. One by one, people stood up and told heartbreaking tales of contaminated land and respiratory and other health problems, all of which they blamed on the very industry he represented.


















Around the same time, Astrella noticed another distressing trend: Oil and gas companies were ignoring new technologies that could lessen their environmental impacts. He had been sure, for example, that an efficient drilling system that didn't require open waste fluid pits -- which can spill harmful chemicals into the air and water -- would become the norm. It didn't. Even when such practices saved money, says Astrella, many companies avoided them out of the fear that voluntarily embracing greener methods would increase the likelihood of stricter regulations.

So Astrella defected. "I think when you get older, you become more concerned with what's going to affect the world in the long term," he says. He believed that win-win solutions were out there, and he intended to push companies to use them.


Continue reading...



-----------------------

Lance Astrella concentrates his practice in the area of energy and environmental matters. Mr. Astrella has been a member of the State Bars of Colorado and California since 1974. He received his bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and economics from California State University at Chico, a master’s degree in economics from the University of California at Davis, and his doctorate of jurisprudence degree from the University of the Pacific– McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Mr. Astrella is a frequent speaker on energy and related environmental matters and he is often associated as counsel by other law firms which seek his expertise. He was named as one of Colorado’s “Super Lawyers” in 2007.

Astrella Law P.C.1801 Broadway, Suite 1600
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: 303-292-9021
Fax: 303-296-6347
-----------------------



WTFrack.org