Oil And Gas Setback Battle To Be Decided By Voters

ACROSS COLORADO – Colorado voters will decide on the November ballot whether new oil and gas development, including fracking, be "a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas designated as 'vulnerable,'" officials announced.

The Colorado Secretary of State's office announced Wednesday that the office had accepted signatures submitted in early August by backers of Initiative 97. Election officials said the backers of the initiative had submitted 123,195 signatures deemed statistically valid, about 25 percent more than the 98,492 needed to get the measure on the ballot.

The battle to get the signatures submitted was fraught with drama, when a political consultant hired to gather the signatures left the state, taking 20,000 signatures with him. He later returned them, after lawsuits were threatened. More than 100 signature workers also said they were not paid by consultants.

Meanwhile, oil and gas advocates are rebranding the initiative the "half-mile" setback and saying it will kill between 100,00- 200,000 jobs in Colorado.

“While the opponents of this job-killing measure consider their options regarding today’s announcement, it bears repeating that this measure, if ultimately enacted, will define our state’s economy and job opportunities for generations to come,” said Colorado Petroleum Council Executive Director Tracee Bentley. “If passed, Initiative 97 could devastate the economic livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, both in and out of the energy industry. Entire communities would involuntarily find themselves closed for business. Tax revenues would plummet, crippling essential funding for education and health care across the state.”

Colorado Rising said in a statement that firefighters and first responders also frequently use one-half mile or more as the evacuation radius when there are fires, explosions and gas leaks, such as the emergency evacuation of a high school football game in Greeley last fall.

Colorado voters are also sure to remember the explosion of a house in Firestone that killed two people, Colorado Rising said.

"In 2017 alone, more than a dozen serious fires and explosions have occurred at oil and gas drilling sites in Colorado, including the tragic home explosion in Firestone which resulted in the death of two men and a mother being severely burned. In addition to these incidents, over 1,000 complaints were filed in Colorado within a single year addressing issues ranging from contaminated water, an inability to sleep or work due to noxious fumes and extremely loud noise to headaches, nosebleeds, asthma and other grave health impacts."

Meanwhile, Colorado cities such as Broomfield have taken oil and gas drilling restrictions to the local level by creating deals with extraction companies for limitations on new drilling, as reported in the Broomfield Enterprise.

Both major party candidates for Governor, Democrat Jared Polis and Republican Walker Stpleton say they oppose the measure, which they claim would make much of Colorado's rapidly populating surface area un-drillable.

How Colorado voters feel about oil and gas extraction at the ballot will reflect the future of the industry in the state.

Related: Colorado Oil And Gas Industry Prepares For Battle At The Polls

Related: Head of Colorado Oil And Gas Regulatory Agency Resigns

Related: CO Oil & Gas: Anadarko Safety Risks Revealed In Shareholder Suit

Related: Colorado's Oil And Gas Regulatory Agency Is Running Out Of Money

Related: Broomfield's Q301: Colorado Independent Looks At Campaign Cash

Image via Cultura/Shutterstock

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