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Attorneys for Garfield County and a group of citizen activists in Battlement Mesa disagree about whether the county can — or should — try to use a state regulation to step up local control over gas and oil exploration activities.
So the citizen activists now plan to sit down with county staffers to see if the idea has any merit and any future.
Members of the Battlement Concerned Citizens group (BCC) have been trying to convince the Board of County Commissioners to declare the development of Battlement Mesa to be “an activity of state interest.”
The designation would, according to some, allow the county to exert greater control over oil and gas drilling activities than it can currently, by resorting to what are known as “1041 powers,” a hazard review category created by the state Legislature that offers county governments additional review over certain kinds of development.
The county attorney's office has concluded that Battlement Mesa does not qualify for the special designation because it is not a “new community” as defined by state law.
Battlement Mesa was first created as worker housing by the Exxon Corp. during the oil shale boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, then metamorphosed into primarily a retirement community following the oil shale bust of 1982. It now has a population of roughly 5,500.
The BCC members, and their attorney, G. Moss Driscoll of Carbondale, believe that Battlement Mesa qualifies because the planned unit development approval for the community, which called for a population of some 20,000 people, currently is only about a quarter complete.
Commissioner John Martin told the BCC representatives that the commissioners already had rejected the idea as legally unsound.
He said he is comfortable with the existing arrangement under which the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has the primary control of the oil and gas industry in terms of approving drilling plans, while Garfield County has authority over some aspects of surface use.
Martin said that the county has very little authority or leeway to intervene in gas drilling operations.
BCC member Bob Arrington stressed that the idea behind 1041 powers was not to prevent continued gas drilling but to give the county the power to mitigate the industry's effects.
Their goal, he said, was for the county “to pursue every option to protect the health and viability” of the community, and any other communities faced with similar kinds of development.
Commissioner Trési Houpt reminded Martin of an earlier vote, noting that the commissioners' only decision on the matter was to direct the county's legal staff to talk with Driscoll about the idea.
“Obviously, there's a very different view” on each attorney's part concerning the applicability of the 1041 designation, she said.
“I think we have an opportunity here that we've never had,” Houpt continued, “and I don't think we are as constrained as you think we are.”
She suggested, and Commissioner Mike Samson agreed, that the BCC representatives should present their ideas to the county's staff at a future work session.
Ron Galterio, president of the BCC, said after the meeting, “I feel pretty good about it.”
He said the group looks forward to “working out some of the issues [the commissioners] have concerns about.
He said the ultimate conclusion may be that the current state of regulatory control over the industry is sufficient.
But, he added, “At this point, we don't feel that way.”
jcolson@postindependent.com
So the citizen activists now plan to sit down with county staffers to see if the idea has any merit and any future.
Members of the Battlement Concerned Citizens group (BCC) have been trying to convince the Board of County Commissioners to declare the development of Battlement Mesa to be “an activity of state interest.”
The designation would, according to some, allow the county to exert greater control over oil and gas drilling activities than it can currently, by resorting to what are known as “1041 powers,” a hazard review category created by the state Legislature that offers county governments additional review over certain kinds of development.
The county attorney's office has concluded that Battlement Mesa does not qualify for the special designation because it is not a “new community” as defined by state law.
Battlement Mesa was first created as worker housing by the Exxon Corp. during the oil shale boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, then metamorphosed into primarily a retirement community following the oil shale bust of 1982. It now has a population of roughly 5,500.
The BCC members, and their attorney, G. Moss Driscoll of Carbondale, believe that Battlement Mesa qualifies because the planned unit development approval for the community, which called for a population of some 20,000 people, currently is only about a quarter complete.
Commissioner John Martin told the BCC representatives that the commissioners already had rejected the idea as legally unsound.
He said he is comfortable with the existing arrangement under which the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has the primary control of the oil and gas industry in terms of approving drilling plans, while Garfield County has authority over some aspects of surface use.
Martin said that the county has very little authority or leeway to intervene in gas drilling operations.
BCC member Bob Arrington stressed that the idea behind 1041 powers was not to prevent continued gas drilling but to give the county the power to mitigate the industry's effects.
Their goal, he said, was for the county “to pursue every option to protect the health and viability” of the community, and any other communities faced with similar kinds of development.
Commissioner Trési Houpt reminded Martin of an earlier vote, noting that the commissioners' only decision on the matter was to direct the county's legal staff to talk with Driscoll about the idea.
“Obviously, there's a very different view” on each attorney's part concerning the applicability of the 1041 designation, she said.
“I think we have an opportunity here that we've never had,” Houpt continued, “and I don't think we are as constrained as you think we are.”
She suggested, and Commissioner Mike Samson agreed, that the BCC representatives should present their ideas to the county's staff at a future work session.
Ron Galterio, president of the BCC, said after the meeting, “I feel pretty good about it.”
He said the group looks forward to “working out some of the issues [the commissioners] have concerns about.
He said the ultimate conclusion may be that the current state of regulatory control over the industry is sufficient.
But, he added, “At this point, we don't feel that way.”
jcolson@postindependent.com
