As part of an ongoing attempt to provide updated information to the community, Diana May, El Paso Countyís local government designee, held an informational meeting in February. As the LGD, May facilitates communication between residents of the county and members of the oil and gas industry.Those in attendance included representatives from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Upstream Petroleum Management Inc., the EPC development services department, the EPC assessorís office and many interested community members.May said only one company is still operating in El Paso County after the others had determined there was not enough commercial oil worth their efforts. The company still in operation is NexGen Oil & Gas LLC, she said.Andrea Gross, project coordinator with Upstream, said NexGen contracted with Upstream to ensure that NexGen is in compliance with their operations at the Mustang Creek Holdings project, located in northeastern El Paso County. She said at the time of the meeting, NexGen was in compliance with all regulations and actively drilling its one well in the county.According to the July 2013 issue of The New Falcon Herald, NexGenís Mustang Creek project has two well sites: the Graham 1-13 well in El Paso County, east of Davenport Road at the end of Judge Orr Road; and the Prescott Ranches 32-34 well in Elbert County, south of County Road 34.Gross said the drilling will go vertically down about 11,000 feet; itís still unknown whether it will be hydraulically fractured ñ a determination wonít be made until the drilling is finished and some testing has been completed on the samples they take, she said.Nancy Prince, the LGD from the COGCC, said their field inspectors have been out to the site three times for minor stormwater issues, but all issues have been corrected.Discussions heated up when community member Nicole Rosa asked Gross about a quote from Bob Davis, NexGenís vice president of land, in an article in the Jan. 29 issue of The Colorado Springs Independent. In that article, Davis said, ìI know of no example where fracking (hydraulic fracturing) has contaminated groundwater.îGross said, ìThereís a lot of information out there but thereís no concrete evidence that fracking contaminates groundwater.îOne citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, said, ìI heard someone say theyíre concerned about contamination and we have a person from the industry misrepresent the facts. How can we go beyond that?îMay said the purpose of this particular meeting was to share information and obtain input, not to debate the information.Prince provided an update about the COGCC operations, especially in light of the floods in Weld County following last summerís heavy rains. The COGCC could consider changing some of their rules based on those floods, she said.The COGCC has passed new reporting regulations that created stricter thresholds and time frames for operators to report spills, Prince said. As reported in the February issue of The New Falcon Herald, the COGCC decreased the reporting threshold from at least 20 barrels of oil or exploration and production waste to five barrels, both inside and outside the containment areas. The reporting time was also decreased from up to 10 days to no more than 24 hours from the time of the spill.Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper issued an executive order in May 2013 requiring the COGCC to stiffen its enforcement process to make it more transparent, efficient and consistent, Prince said. Because of the governorís order, a new way of tracking spills will be introduced in March 2014, she said.Prince fielded several questions from those in attendance. The questions focused on the COGCC actions concerning spills that resulted in groundwater contamination. ìIn Colorado, thereís no place where the fracking piece has contaminated groundwater,î she said. ìThere will be stricter enforcement for violations like groundwater contamination, which is a violation of our regulations.î Prince added that there is much more involved in oil and gas operations than fracking.Some attendees became agitated about the answers they received. ìWe want to know not what was being done but what is being done in those specific instances,î said one resident, who asked to remain anonymous. ìWe know some of these answers but we need you to go on record. We need you to fess up to this stuff. Itís impolite to come to a meeting and speak untruths.îThe tension in the room drew police officers already in the building into the meeting room. Several citizens spoke up saying they felt threatened and intimidated by the police presence.ìWeíre wound up because we see whatís gone on up in Weld County and how spectacularly the state has failed us,î Rosa said.May said NexGen had told her they donít think theyíll be sticking around to commercially produce any oil or natural gas, and she advised the audience that talking to elected officials is the best avenue for change.To provide increased insight into oil and gas operations, May set a tentative date for a special informational meeting to be held at the El Paso County Citizenís Center April 2, from 4 to 6 p.m. She said residents can send questions to be addressed at the meeting to her. Visit http://elpasoco.com for information on mailing her.The next regular LGD meeting is May 7 at 2 p.m. in the Pikes Peak conference room at Centennial Hall in Colorado Springs.
