News
Sports
Under pressure from a citizens group, the Garfield County commissioners this week agreed to look into ways to penalize oil and gas drillers that fail to follow county regulations.
The Board of County Commissioners did not, however, agree that new regulations are needed, and Commissioner John Martin indicated a belief that the county's new zoning code provides for the possibility that a company might find itself in court over violations of zoning regulations.
The matter arose at Monday's commissioners meeting, when Leslie Robinson of Rifle, a member of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, told the commissioners that “now it seems it is easier for business, in particular the oil and gas industry, to ask forgiveness than to ask permission on special land use permits.”
Robinson referred to a recent revelation that Williams Production, the biggest gas producing company working in Garfield County, had been operating a pair of gas-drilling pads inside the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development boundaries for approximately 20 years without the proper county permits.
“We have found that there have been other instances where the county's regulatory authority was overlooked,” Leslie told the commissioners. She cited a 2009 case involving OXY U.S.A. and several unpermitted remote office buildings, and a 2008 case involving Bill Barrett Corp. and a system of pits to hold drilling waste south of Silt.
None of the commissioners objected to Robinson's description of those cases.
Robinson recommended the commissioners “review land use procedures so that a 20-year oversight does not occur again.”
She noted remarks made by commissioners Trési Houpt and Mike Samson late last year, which indicated that both officials were interested in doing exactly that.
Houpt, at Monday's meeting, termed it “really rather embarrassing to see that something has been happening for 20 years that shouldn't have been happening,” but added that the county has “been really vigilant recently with code enforcement.”
As for penalties, she noted, “We do that with smaller code violations, but we haven't pursued that with oil and gas violations, and I'm not really sure why.”
She said she has been “really frustrated over the past eight years when [oil and gas] companies have come to us to apologize” for violating the county's land use codes, but have not suffered any consequences for the violations.
Instead, she said, companies are encouraged to engage in “self-reporting” regarding violations, a system that is “kind of ingrained in the culture” and that is met with “a hand shake and a thank-you” rather than punitive action by the county.
Williams spokesperson Donna Gray, who was not at the commissioners' meeting, said she could not comment at the moment on how the company views the idea of penalties for zoning code violations.
Commissioner John Martin said the new county codes look to the county attorney's office to bring notice of violations to the commissioners, although County Attorney Don DeFord said there are no penalty provisions in the code and that violations have not routinely been brought to the commissioners.
DeFord stated that creating penalty provisions “would be a change in policy” for the commissioners, and was directed to come up with some recommendations on the matter for a work session scheduled for March 16.
jcolson@postindependent.com
The Board of County Commissioners did not, however, agree that new regulations are needed, and Commissioner John Martin indicated a belief that the county's new zoning code provides for the possibility that a company might find itself in court over violations of zoning regulations.
The matter arose at Monday's commissioners meeting, when Leslie Robinson of Rifle, a member of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, told the commissioners that “now it seems it is easier for business, in particular the oil and gas industry, to ask forgiveness than to ask permission on special land use permits.”
Robinson referred to a recent revelation that Williams Production, the biggest gas producing company working in Garfield County, had been operating a pair of gas-drilling pads inside the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development boundaries for approximately 20 years without the proper county permits.
“We have found that there have been other instances where the county's regulatory authority was overlooked,” Leslie told the commissioners. She cited a 2009 case involving OXY U.S.A. and several unpermitted remote office buildings, and a 2008 case involving Bill Barrett Corp. and a system of pits to hold drilling waste south of Silt.
None of the commissioners objected to Robinson's description of those cases.
Robinson recommended the commissioners “review land use procedures so that a 20-year oversight does not occur again.”
She noted remarks made by commissioners Trési Houpt and Mike Samson late last year, which indicated that both officials were interested in doing exactly that.
Houpt, at Monday's meeting, termed it “really rather embarrassing to see that something has been happening for 20 years that shouldn't have been happening,” but added that the county has “been really vigilant recently with code enforcement.”
As for penalties, she noted, “We do that with smaller code violations, but we haven't pursued that with oil and gas violations, and I'm not really sure why.”
She said she has been “really frustrated over the past eight years when [oil and gas] companies have come to us to apologize” for violating the county's land use codes, but have not suffered any consequences for the violations.
Instead, she said, companies are encouraged to engage in “self-reporting” regarding violations, a system that is “kind of ingrained in the culture” and that is met with “a hand shake and a thank-you” rather than punitive action by the county.
Williams spokesperson Donna Gray, who was not at the commissioners' meeting, said she could not comment at the moment on how the company views the idea of penalties for zoning code violations.
Commissioner John Martin said the new county codes look to the county attorney's office to bring notice of violations to the commissioners, although County Attorney Don DeFord said there are no penalty provisions in the code and that violations have not routinely been brought to the commissioners.
DeFord stated that creating penalty provisions “would be a change in policy” for the commissioners, and was directed to come up with some recommendations on the matter for a work session scheduled for March 16.
jcolson@postindependent.com
