While the COGCC considers Ursa’s Phase II drilling plan for another 55 wells on 2 well pads plus another injection well, all located within Battlement Mesa, the Garfield County planning department is simultaneously considering the same application. It’s not supposed to work that way. The way it’s supposed to work is the county reviews the […]
August 14, 2017
Proposal to drill 108 oil wells in Grand Junction watershed too risky The revised project threatens water and air quality In late June, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its long-awaited revised Environmental Assessment on the Fram Whitewater Project, a proposal to drill 108 oil wells in the Grand Junction watershed outside of Whitewater. […]
August 4, 2017
In the aftermath of the fatal home explosion in Firestone last April, which killed homeowner Mark Martinez and his brother-in-law Joey Irwin, and seriously injured Mark’s wife Erin, Governor Hickenlooper ordered all Colorado oil and gas operators to inspect thousands of wells and miles of pipelines and associated flowlines. The state’s first inspections deadline occurred […]
July 27, 2017
Bob Arrington, PE, is a Battlement Mesa citizen representative on Garfield County’s Energy Advisory Board (EAB). He also represents the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance and the Battlement Concerned Citizens. This week he submitted his comment to the COGCC regarding Ursa’s proposed A Pad and injection well. Included with Bob’s letter is his presentation, A Very […]
July 26, 2017
Battlement Mesa residents are gearing up as Ursa moves forward with Phase II of their drilling plan. Ursa has submitted an application to the COGCC to drill another 55 wells on 2 well pads plus another injection well, all located within the community. This project is being tracked closely by local environmental groups headed by […]
July 25, 2017
Dozens of citizens and representatives from environmental groups raised holy hell at the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) meeting on Monday. Protestors raised signs and chanted: “No more drilling! No more Permits! Stop the appeal!” At the core of the furor is public outrage over the commissioners’ decision to appeal the Colorado Court […]
July 21, 2017
Even though drilling has slowed way down on the West Slope over the past two years, drilling has increased ever-so-slightly in Garfield, Rio Blanco and Mesa counties. There were nine rigs operating in the Piceance Basin as of June, compared to three last year. So while that’s triple last year’s rig count, it’s far from […]
July 13, 2017
A new report from the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) criticizes federal and state policies that subsidize and support the expansion of carbon capture and sequestration technology (CCS). The report, Too Good to Be True: The Risks of Public Investment in Carbon Capture and Sequestration, concludes that CCS technology is expensive, inefficient, dirty […]
June 29, 2017
Junk Raft An Ocean Voyage and a Rising Tide of Activism to Fight Plastic Pollution By Marcus Eriksen Beacon Press July 2017 216 pages At the outset, author Marcus Eriksen exposes the truth behind the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, supposedly floating between California and Hawaii that is twice the size of Texas. In 1997, Captain […]
June 23, 2017
In case you missed them, there were a couple excellent and informative public health webinars this month. Luckily both are now available to view online. Better yet, these webinars are free! Also featured is a new online resource for tracking your exposure to hazardous chemicals in the environment. Fracking and Children’s Health In the last […]
Kindle Award of Excellence
2012 Colorado Book Award Finalist
"a wild ride like no other”
August 18, 2017
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