American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2017 - 99

ConventionSection: Colorado Oil & Gas Association
the sole authority to regulate operations
and technical feasibility," Haley notes.
A requirement for operators to provide
the city with water quality impact studies
and ongoing monitoring plans also conflicts
with the state's base line sampling and
monitoring requirements, he maintains.
The association also expresses concern
that a definition of "outdoor activity
areas" conflicts with COGCC's process
for managing areas such as parks or playgrounds. Meanwhile, COGA also raises
questions about city rules regarding flowline abandonment and a permitting process
that the association suggests may clash
with the state's goal of a timely and efficient process.
"Thornton is on the edge of the basin
and we are not aware of any company
planning to develop in the city at this
time," Haley observes. "Its regulations
are a concern for the precedents they
may set, so we are considering our legal
options."
The city's regulations passed after a
2015 outcry in the Wadley Farms community in unincorporated Adams County,
Co., where residents objected to a proposed
20-well pad. The operator withdrew plans
for the site following the controversy and
is reported to have sold the mineral leases,
Haley notes.
Broomfield Task Force
In Broomfield, Co., a consolidated
city and county of 55,900 residents 17
miles northwest of Denver, the city
council formed a task force to review
and recommend revisions to the oil and
gas regulations in the city's comprehensive
plan. According to the city, the 12member task force divided into four
committees to study issues relating to
health, community impact, planning and
legal issues. In the summer, a fifth committee was formed to examine possible
impacts to property values from new
well development.
On Aug. 29, the full committee presented the sum of its findings to Broomfield's council, media accounts indicate,
with council members differing over the
likelihood that additional local regulations
could survive legal challenge. Issues in
Broomfield's draft rules include regulations
on setbacks, pitless drilling, oil, gas and
water pipelines, enhanced leak detection
and repair, and increased performance
bonds, media reports indicate.
The effort to exert local control over
oil and gas in Broomfield shows the usual

process "charting new territory," Haley
offers.
"Operators there held numerous open
houses and changed development plans
several times before filing drilling spacing
unit applications," he describes. "We do
not know where Broomfield will go with
its regulations, but we commend the open
process and its willingness to work with
operators."
Fortunately, Haley reports, a number
of techniques to make well sites less conspicuous have become increasingly commonplace. "We continue to see operators
adopting technology and innovating new
ways to reduce impacts," he states. "Things
such as sound walls, electric drill rigs
and quiet fracture fleets are all aimed at
reducing what neighbors see as a nuisance."
Separately, an amendment to the city's
charter is slated to appear this year on
Broomfield's municipal ballot. The ballot
measure contains language permitting
the city to issue an oil and gas permit
only if development "occurs in a manner
not adversely impacting health, safety
and welfare . . . and to safeguard the environment and wildlife resources."
"That language is similar to the ruling
in Martinez, et. al. v. Colorado Oil and
Gas Conservation Commission," Haley
points out. "If it passes, its legality likely
will be challenged."
In March, a state appeals court ruled
in Martinez that the COGCC must consider
new development's environmental impact
the primary concern in a permit application
and not apply the traditional four-item
balancing test of efficient production,
correlative rights, preventing waste and
protecting the environment (AOGR, May
2017, pg. 90).
Ongoing Conflict
Although each municipality takes a
different approach, Haley observes, the
efforts to impose local regulations on oil
and gas development in Thornton, Broomfield and Erie all stem from the same ongoing conflict between industry's responsible development of the DJ Basin's prolific resource and suburban communities'
rapid expansion.
"Many people moving to Colorado are
unfamiliar with an industry that has operated
here since 1860," Haley considers. "It is
incumbent on us to talk with them about
what we are doing and why it is important.
We must talk about property rights and
how we can develop these resources safely

Hickenlooper Seeks
Policy For Flowlines
DENVER-After a three-month review of Colorado's oil and natural
gas operations, which includes a massive amount of data from producers,
Governor John Hickenlooper has issued a policy statement which he
characterizes as a "responsible and
appropriate response" to prevent more
explosions such as the one that killed
two people and injured a third in Firestone, Co., this spring (AOGR, June
2017, pg. 32).
In August, Hickenlooper outlined
a seven-point plan that advocated either
a rule making or legislation to address
the issue. The governor's plan includes:
* Strengthening the Colorado Oil
& Gas Conservation Commission's
flowline regulations;
* Enhancing the 8-1-1 "one-call"
program;
* Creating a stand-alone nonprofit
fund to plug and abandon orphaned
wells and provide homeowners with
methane monitors;
* Prohibiting domestic gas taps;
* Improving safety training for
operators;
* Requesting a peer-review of
COGCC rules; and
* Investigating a pilot program to
explore ambient methane leak detection.
The governor's announcement was
followed on Sept. 8 by a notice of
rule making from COGCC.
In addition to expanding the definition of pipelines to include flowlines,
the commission says the rule making
will consider setting new flowline installation standards, expanding pressure
and integrity monitoring, increasing
record keeping and reporting, adding
lock-out/tag-out requirements for risers
not in use, tightening Tier 1 membership in the utility notification program
to include all operators, and revising
flowline abandonment rules.
Two stakeholder meetings were
scheduled for September with a draft
of the revisions scheduled to be filed
in mid-October. A final rule making
hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11-12,
the commission reports.
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OCTOBER 2017 99

American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2017

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