Colorado Regulators Hold Fracking Disclosure Hearing - View Public Comments

Dec 5, 2011
CBSDENVER 4


DENVER (AP) — Requiring oil and gas companies to publicly disclose what chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing is important, but it’s not the first line of defense for protecting public health and the environment, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said Monday.

David Neslin’s comments came at a public hearing on the commission’s proposal to require public disclosures of fracking chemicals that aren’t trade secrets. It wasn’t clear whether commissioners would act on the proposal Monday.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, involves blasting water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to free oil and natural gas. Companies have been fracking for decades, but as drilling expands into more populated areas, residents near wells have expressed concerns about potential effects on their health and drinking water.

More than 100 people overflowed the room where the commission held a hearing Monday on the proposed rules.

Neslin said disclosures are important, but more critical are the state’s rules for monitoring wells, ensuring proper casing and cementing around oil and gas wells, and sampling water to help detect contamination.

“It’s only one tool,” Neslin said

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Read the PUBLIC COMMENTS HERE


We think Neslin is the 'Tool.'

 

Clean Water Action Asks COGCC to Protect Coloradoans From Fracking

For Immediate Release
November 30, 2011
Clean Water Action (http://cleanwater.org)
Contact: Gary Wockner, 970-218-8310

CLEAN WATER ACTION ASKS COGCC TO PROTECT COLORADANS FROM FRACKING

Fort Collins, CO – Yesterday, northernColorado based Clean Water Action sent a letter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) through COGCC’s online comment tool asking for better protections against oil and gas fracking in Colorado. The letter contains three asks:

1. Closing the "trade secret loophole".
2. Disclosing the amount and source of water used for drilling and fracking.
3. Placing "markers" in fracking fluids so that polluters can be held accountable.

The letter is here: http://tinyurl.com/75s46l9

"Fracking is racing across northern Colorado – the entire region is being used as a huge guinea pig," said Gary Wockner, Program Director of Clean Water Action. "At a minimum, we need to close the trade secret loophole, find out how much water is being used in fracking, and mark fracking fluids so that polluters can be held accountable."

On Dec. 5, 2011, COGCC is holding a meeting to discuss new rules for fracking in Colorado. The meeting comes as drilling and fracking is moving into suburban neighborhoods across the Front Range, and as two oil companies – Anadarkoand Noble– just announced major new oil finds in the Niobrara Shale formations in northern Colorado. Weld County already has more active oil and gas wells – about 18,000 – than any other county in the U.S. Anadarko and Noble suggest they may drill a few thousand more wells over the next several years in northern Colorado.

Clean Water Action’s first request is to close the “trade secret loophole.” Earlier in 2011, Governor Hickenlooper announced that he wanted public disclosure of fracking fluids, but when the rules were proposed they contained a“trade secret loophole” where companies could avoid public disclosure.

“If we don’t close the trade secret loophole, this rule is meaningless,” said Wockner. “Governor Hickenlooper needs to see this promise through and make sure COGCC closes the loophole.”

Second, Clean Water Action wants drilling and fracking companies to disclose the amount of water they are using and the source of that water. In the last few months, considerable media attention has focused on drilling and fracking as a major user of water potentially adding more stress to Colorado’s water supply problems. Estimates range from a few hundred thousand to a few million acre feet of water will be needed for drilling and fracking over the next few decades.

“Nobody seems to know how much water drilling and fracking uses,” said Wockner. “Let’s go right to the source and have the drillers and frackers report their water use so that Colorado knows how much additional stress this will place on our rivers and farms which are already being drained and dried up.”

Finally, Clean Water Action asked that “markers” be placed in fracking fluids so that pollution can be traced to the source. 

“When pollution occurs, we need to hold polluters accountable,” said Wockner. “Putting chemical markers in fracking fluids will let the public and regulators know who caused the pollution and who needs to pay to clean it up.”

The public can comment through COGCC’s website here: http://cogcc.state.co.us/

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Please click HERE to post your comments/concerns.

Your voice is needed.

Below are the current listed comments. You can click on the blue link to read what each person has stated.

COGCC Rulemaking 2011 Comments

Submitted by (group or person)	Date Received
Tracy Dahl	11/04/2011
Philip F. Incao, MD	11/07/2011
David Hayes	11/07/2011
David Hayes	11/08/2011
South Park Coalition	11/15/2011
Mary J. Talbott	11/15/2011
Noalani Terry	11/15/2011
Kerry Willson	11/17/2011
Michael Roach	11/18/2011
Cynthia Ziegler	11/18/2011
Todd Sheets	11/21/2011
Catherine Deuter	11/21/2011
Gusti Boiani	11/21/2011
Beth Barta	11/21/2011
Sue Navy	11/21/2011
Richard White	11/21/2011
Kim Sweitzer	11/21/2011
Holly Powell	11/21/2011
Charlie Hood	11/21/2011
Frank Coleman	11/22/2011
Bob Arrington	11/23/2011
Paul Potyen	11/23/2011
Russell Evans	11/23/2011
Alice Gustafson	11/23/2011
Lisa Bracken	11/25/2011
Kathleen Foos	11/25/2011
Mark Begay	11/25/2011
Anne Bliss	11/25/2011
Barbara Bernhardt	11/25/2011
Ralph D'Alessandro	11/25/2011
Karen Michaelis	11/25/2011
David Cale	11/25/2011
Claudette Konola	11/25/2011
JoAnn Moon	11/25/2011
Tom Phillips	11/25/2011
Peter Pierson	11/25/2011
Jon Schulz	11/25/2011
Deborah Stucklen	11/25/2011
Jeanette & Mark Sullivant	11/25/2011
Rein & JanVan West	11/25/2011
Joan Woodward	11/25/2011
Rick Blotter	11/28/2011

Fracking up nationwide as Colorado officials eye new disclosure rule by year’s end

By David O. Williams | 09.21.11
Washington Independent

Whether it’s called hydraulic fracturing, hydro-fracking or just plain fracking, the controversial but common natural gas drilling process remains the focus of intense public scrutiny and public awareness events from Colorado to New York, including a couple of unique fracking functions set for this weekend.

In Fort Collins on Saturday, Save the Poudre and the local chapter of the Sierra Club will host former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) whistleblower Wes Wilson at the Fort Collins Brewery. Wilson pointed out the deficiencies in what many critics claim was a rushed and inadequate study of fracking prior to a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the process that was granted in the 2005 Energy Policy Act during the Bush administration.

“Millions of gallons of fracking fluids are left underground,” said Save the Poudre’s Gary Wockner, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan. “There’s a long-term question about whether those will ever impact drinking water supplies or impact public health.”

Also on Saturday, according to the Ithaca Journal, activists in upstate New York will hold a bike rally called the “Tour de Frac” to check out areas in the Finger Lakes region that will be impacted by fracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of water, sand and often undisclosed chemicals deep into gas wells to crack open rock formations and free up more gas.

COGA president and CEO Tisha Schuller reportedly said in a recent speech. “I hate to credit the movie Gasland, but it’s really changed the conversation.”

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