All homes and schools in Colorado should be protected from new oil and gas drilling by a 2,000-ft buffer or setback—four times the current standard for urban areas—a majority of the members of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) said.
In a session on 9 September to review proposed rule changes on setbacks, four of the five commissioners voiced support for an extended setback to protect public health and safety, as well as reduce nuisances such as odors, noise, and heavy traffic.
The one commissioner expressing reservations about the 2,000-ft setback was Bill Gonzalez, a former oil and gas industry executive. “I don’t think that is the right number and the right way of going about it,” he said.
Jeff Robbins, the commission chairman, said that the expanded setback was in line with the COGCC’s change in mission—defined in Senate Bill 181—from promoting oil and gas development to the protection of public safety, health, welfare, and the environment in regulating the oil and gas industry.
“It is a paradigm shift,” Robbins said. “We are sending a signal that [oil and gas] operators ought to check in with the commission and local governments early on” in their planning to know if a project will be “really difficult or not doable.”
There was, however, also a majority agreement that there could be exemptions and variances allowing projects within 2,000 ft of homes. There was a split among commissioners on how easy it should be to get a variance.
The COGCC setback position was quickly criticized by the industry. “The setback recommendation is completely arbitrary, not based on science, and is being made without any legitimate consideration of its impacts on working families across our state,” Dan Haley, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group, said in an email.
The five-member, full-time commission took over from a volunteer board on 1 July and is in the midst of a sweeping overhaul of the state’s oil and gas regulations so that they conform with Senate Bill 181.
The current setback for an oil and gas well from a home is 200 ft statewide and 500 ft in more heavily settled urban areas.
The COGCC staff had proposed extending the 500-ft setback statewide, adding a 1,500-ft setback for projects affecting 10 or more homes, and doubling the setback from school grounds to 2,000 ft.
The commissioners rejected the staff proposals on residential setbacks, saying that every resident deserved the same protection and that children deserve the same protection at home as they get at school.
“The 500 ft is more of the bare minimum. And if we want to be truly protective, we have to go beyond that,” said Priya Nanjappa, an environmental expert who was appointed to the commission.