Almost a year after the oil and gas ballot showdown that wasn’t, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is considering new rules governing drilling in residential communities and the role of local governments in deciding where and how it’s done.

WCC and our allies across the state are gearing up to ensure these new rules mean real change for our communities – not just be another smokescreen for industry. And we need your help to show the COGCC we mean business!

Battlement Mesa, Garfield County. Photo courtesy of Ecoflight

Please join us at either or both of these COGCC events in Rifle next week:

• Meeting with local governments 
  Open to the public
  Wednesday July 29, 1:30-4:30 pm
• Meeting with concerned-citizens’ groups 
  Please come if you’re a WCC member or a concerned citizen – we need to show the COGCC how many people care about this issue!
  Wednesday July 29, 5 pm-6 pm

Both meetings are at the Grand River Health Conference Facility in the Rifle Creek Meeting Room, 501 Airport Road, Rifle.

To clarify, these are not hearings, so you don’t need to come prepared to speak. However, your presence is critical to show the COGCC how important this issue is to our Western Slope communities. Even if you can only stop by for a bit, every person counts!

If you plan to attend, please let us know you’re coming so we know how many to expect. To RSVP or for more information, contact Emily Hornback at 970-256-7650.

Background:

This rulemaking is a result of Governor Hickenlooper’s Oil & Gas Task Force, which voted on nine recommendations to pass on to the Governor for review. Of the nine, Recommendations #17 and #20 were the only two with real substance for oil and gas impacted communities. Specifically, they would give communities more say in the location of large-scale industrial sites near neighborhoods as well as require companies to engage in a long-term and transparent planning process. These will be the focus of the rulemaking.

After five months of waiting, the process has finally begun. It will last through the rest of the year, concluding with a final hearing in Denver before the COGCC. We’ll keep you posted as we work our way through the maze, and we’ll let you know how you can be involved.

For more information, read WCC’s blog post for our breakdown of the Task Force process here.