Extraction Oil & Gas’s proposed drilling program spurred citizen action and reaction by Broomfield council
On Jan. 10, 2017, the City and County of Broomfield, Colorado, held a public hearing on its proposed ordinance No. 2038 which calls for imposing a temporary moratorium on oil and gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and the processing of certain oil and gas related applications. Attorneys for the City discussed the Colorado Supreme Court rulings on prior bans and moratoria at great length.
All prior bans and moratorium impositions by municipalities were declared illegal by the Colorado Supreme Court. Nonetheless, the City moved through the hearing regarding its proposed ordinance to impose another moratorium on oil and gas development.
The Broomfield Enterprise reported that “People began lining up at Broomfield’s city council meeting nearly three hours before it began, seeking prime seats to see and hear a lengthy discussion on a proposed five-month oil and gas moratorium.
“One official estimated that 500 to 600 people were at the meeting. Community members spent about two and a half hours asking council to either pass the moratorium or continue to work with Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc. and avoid legal battles down the road.
“An attorney representing Extraction was one of the last people who signed up to comment and told council a fracking moratorium would not be legal. An attorney with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission also advocated against the moratorium.
Source: City and County of Broomfield
“At the beginning of the meeting, City and County Attorney William Tuthill pointed to a line in last spring’s Supreme Court decision that invalidated Broomfield’s prior five-year moratorium.
“‘Their next sentence gives us hope’ ,” he said, when it referenced the length of the moratorium, implying that he believed a five-month would be constitutional.
“At the end of a six-hour meeting Tuesday night, Broomfield decided to pause and not act on the moratorium in a 5-4 vote.”
The plan to consolidate drilling onto four large pads brought a lot of attention to the process. According to the Broomfield summary of the reasons it is proposing this ordinance, the municipality said, “This style of operation may create different potential impacts that can legally be addressed by local governments.”
The rest of the summary included the following background:
- Broomfield has an interest in protecting and preserving the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens.
- At present, Broomfield does not have any regulations relating to potential fees to address the impact of large scale drilling and production operations on roads and traffic. This is an area in which local governments have the ability to regulate or impose impact fees.
- A moratorium of short duration will allow Broomfield staff time to review Broomfield’s existing land use regulations and processes, including administrative approval by memorandum of understanding, to ascertain whether any changes to those regulations or processes should be recommended.
- Broomfield has conducted the pre-application review for the oil and gas well development proposed by Extraction Oil and Gas Inc., on the Sheridan pad site located at the northwest corner of the Northwest Parkway and Sheridan Boulevard. This is in anticipation of the submittal of a final plan for the Sheridan pad site.
- At Extraction’s request, hearings regarding their spacing applications related to the Lowell and Sheridan drilling pad sites filed with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission have been continued until March 2017.
- A summary of the updated proposal from Extraction Oil and Gas, Inc., regarding their proposed development of oil and gas wells at four sites in Broomfield is included as Attachment 1. This includes the Sheridan site. Extraction executives will summarize this proposal at the January 10 meeting.
- Comments received by the City and County of Broomfield regarding oil and gas operations are included as Attachment 2. Comments have been received via e-mail, social media, and from Broomfield’s web site in response to requests from residents to submit items for consideration by the City Council at its 2017 Focus Session.
- Broomfield is organizing a facilitated community forum with participation by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Extraction to provide an opportunity for the City Council and residents to obtain additional information and clarification regarding oil and gas development. This is expected to occur in late January or early February.
- Proposed Ordinance No. 2038 would temporarily halt any new oil and gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and processing of oil and gas development applications until June 13, 2017.
Extraction fully addresses community concerns
Extraction Oil & Gas (ticker: XOG) made numerous adjustments to its drilling program to address all concerns of the City and County of Broomfield and its citizens, including addressing making the process noise-reduced and pollution free, reducing or eliminating truck traffic, landscaping well sites, shutting in old wells and consolidating the drilling program to four key pads.
View the full discussion from the Broomfield City Council meeting below.
Read the complete documentation from the Broomfield government here, including summary, public comments, emails, and the Extraction Oil & Gas proposal.
