City officials are objecting to a proposed oil and gas development in Firestone, using 2019 legislation which gives local governments more say over energy projects that could affect public health, safety and the environment.
The city of Longmont is citing Senate Bill 181 as the basis for its objection to Kerr-McGee’s plan to put two drilling pads in Firestone inside a 2,000-foot setback, a required buffer under Senate Bill 181. Kerr-McGee is a subsidiary of the state’s biggest oil and gas operator, Occidental Petroleum.
The company could not be reached for comment.
The company’s Longs Peak drilling plan seeks to drill 26 wells within 2,000 feet of 87 homes, with the closest residence 763 feet away, according to the Colorado Sun. The site is also adjacent to a wetland, the Saddleback golf course and the Firestone Trail.
“This is too close to houses, too close to golf courses and too close to Longmont,” Mayor Joan Peck told city council members this week.
Peck — with unanimous support from the rest of the city council — told city staff members to draft a letter to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) objecting to Kerr-McGee’s request for a waiver of the 2,000-foot setback rule.
Kerr-McGee also wants to drill seven wells on a pad within 2,000 feet of seven homes with the two nearest homes about 1,100 feet away, the Sun states.
The letter is likely to include local data collected over the past two years from air monitoring stations in and around Longmont that detail the harm drilling operations have on Longmont’s air quality, Peck said.
“We are simply asking COGCC to do its job,” Peck said this week.
The commission was scheduled to rule on Kerr-McGee’s Firestone plan on March 10 but the company has since put its proposal on hold, according to the Denver Post.
Councilors agreed with Peck that Longmont has a right to influence the COGCC’s decision. Neighboring oil and gas emissions have led to big spikes in methane and benzene levels that lead to health problems, Councilor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring said.
“We collect all this polluted air,” Hidalgo-Fahring said. “It’s very appropriate that we do this.”
