Tag Archives: Hickenlooper

Weighing in on the governor’s ads

Posted on by

Over the last few days you might have heard or seen an ad that Gov. Hicklooper did with the oil and gas industry.  In the ads he says, “we have not had one instance of groundwater contamination associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing.”  Since 2008 we’ve had dozens and dozens of spills of toxic chemicals from oil and gas activity. Studies done by the State of Colorado show numerous instances of accidental discharges, corroded tanks and pipelines, and leaking containment pits have put toxic fluids in our groundwater, including carcinogenic hydrocarbons such as benzene.  “It’s simply inaccurate to state that oil and gas drilling isn’t contaminating ground water in Colorado,” said Mike Freeman, CEC board member. ”The state’s own records show that spills and releases routinely affect ground water.  

CEC and many of our partners have worked hand in hand with the Hickenlooper administration to find compromise solutions that protect Colorado’s environment. Yesterday, CEC and our partners sent the following letter to Governor Hickenlooper. We hope he takes our message to heart and presents a more balanced voice on oil and gas issues in Colorado. Read more news coverage of the recent ad and our concerns here and here

February 27, 2012

 

Dear Gov. Hickenlooper,

 

Your administration played a critical role last year in creating one of the nation’s strongest fracking disclosure rules. It was your goal of keeping Colorado citizens informed about fracking and your leadership in overseeing negotiations that got us across the finish line, delivering a big win for citizens and communities that have demanded the right to know what fracking chemicals are going into the ground.

That’s why we were so surprised and disappointed to hear your recent radio ad on behalf of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, an industry trade group. The ad rightly recognizes Colorado’s success in adopting protective rules in 2008 and 2011, but it creates a misleading picture about the overall safety of oil and gas development. Specifically, the ad claims that since 2008, “we have not had one instance of groundwater contamination associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing.”
That assertion misleads the public by ignoring the high incidence of groundwater contamination from spills and releases of toxic chemicals at or near drilling sites. Since 2008, numerous instances of groundwater contamination have resulted from releases of chemicals such as petroleum liquids and produced water used and generated during drilling and hydraulic fracturing.  Accidental spills, corroded tanks and pipelines, and leaking containment pits have been implicated in numerous releases of toxic fluids, including carcinogenic hydrocarbons such as benzene. The Colorado oil and gas commission’s October 2011 “Spills and Releases” report and its 2011 report  to CDPHE, issued earlier this month, make clear that contamination of groundwater remains an ongoing issue with oil and gas development.  Similarly, a Denver Post analysis of state records for 2011 found 58 cases of groundwater pollution linked to spills and releases.  Another Denver Post analysis of accidental spills dating back to 2008 found an even larger number of groundwater incidents.

The COGA ad leaves Coloradans with an inaccurate picture of the consequences of oil and gas drilling operations. While citizens should know how much progress we have made in adopting health and safety protections, they should also feel confident that the state recognizes and is working to minimize the inevitable impacts of oil and gas development.  A good first step toward building that confidence is to withdraw the COGA ad and to direct the oil and gas commission to adopt new and stronger protections for Colorado’s water resources and communities, including increased mandatory setbacks of oil and gas wells from rivers and streams, and from homes.  No doubt we can all agree that it’s vital to give Colorado citizens both an accurate picture of oil and gas development and the confidence that we are all working aggressively to mitigate its impacts.

Respectfully,

 

Clean Water Action
Checks and Balances
Colorado Conservation Voters
Colorado Environmental Coalition
Earthjustice
Environment Colorado
High Country Citizens Alliance
National Wildlife Federation
RouttCountyFrack.Org
Sierra Club, Roaring Fork Chapter
San Juan Citizens Alliance
Western Colorado Congress
Wilderness Workshop

Defending our rivers (and the sculpin too)

Posted on by

Colorado’s state fish is the Greenback Cutthroat Trout and it is stunning. Emerald green flashes on it’s back while a crimson rose spreads along it’s belly. Once pushed to extinction, we fought to protect this species and bring it back. It’s a beautiful fish, but it’s not my favorite. Not even close. If I could submit any fish native to Colorado for this high honor it would be the mottled sculpin. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, speckled to blend in among the rocks, and with spines along it’s back- it looks almost prehistoric. I’ll be the first to admit that the sculpin is not likely to win any beauty pageants.

Mottled Sculpin

Greenback Cutthroats get the glory here in Colorado. Posters and plaques, a listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, the list goes on. Meanwhile the sculpin does the incredibly hard work of being lower on the food chain than a trout. Without the sculpin; trout go hungry too, and in the last two decades these small fish have suffered a tremendous decline in the Upper Colorado River. In some areas, they have vanished completely. It’s not just the sculpin either, a recent state study found that in the last two decades there has been a 38% decline in aquatic insects. It’s no wonder the sculpin has vanished since they rely on insects like stone flies and may flies for their own survival.

Sculpins and the insects they eat are suffering because for decades we have diverted water from the Upper Colorado to use on the Front Range of Colorado. Soon, we may divert more water as two water projects are being contemplated in the headwaters of the Colorado. Our namesake river is in trouble, if these new projects come online they’d reduce the flow of the river by nearly 80% of the native flows. 

Elise speaks out for the Colorado

When the insects and sculpin go, trout go too. A loss of our fisheries in Colorado really means a loss of tourism and jobs. Recreation and tourism are a billion dollar a year industry in Colorado many of our local communities rely on those dollars. So when a sculpin goes belly up, we risk our economies going belly up too.

It’s a grim picture and it’s why CEC and our partners are working to Defend the Colorado. Our river needs our help. This week we joined other river advocates to rally on the steps of the State Capitol.

CEC, our members and our partners have spent countless hours attending public meetings on these water projects, writing official comments and letters to our leaders and meeting with decision makers; all with the hopes of keeping our river healthy. We have made progress, just a week ago the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called for further review of one of these projects.

Several folks spoke out this Wednesday, including Field and Stream Editor, Kirk Deeter. Kirk travels around the world to write about amazing rivers, but he lives here in Colorado because we have amazing rivers and mountains right in our backyard. In his comments, Kirk compared the Colorado River to another Colorado icon: Pikes Peak.

Imagine we woke up tomorrow and learned that Pike’s Peak were 90% comprised of high grade coal. We could build a power plant and burn that coal, providing free power to the cities of Denver and Colorado Springs for 20 years. All we’d have to do is shave off two-thirds of Pike’s Peak. Who’s going to step up and say, ‘Let’s start with a little bit off the top!’ Nobody.

Kirk’s visual is spot on. The Colorado River is an icon, we need to protect it just as we would Pike’s Peak, or the Gold dome of our Capitol. It’s not too late, we can still make sure our iconic river remains. Our river needs heroes. On Wednesday, we asked Governor Hickenlooper to be one of those heroes. It’s time for our state leadership to take their own studies to heart and make sure that we protect our river.

Dozens of activists rally to Defend the Colorado

We need you to be a hero for the Colorado river too, take a moment to sign this petition to save our river. Who knows, maybe one day the sculpin will get the glory it deserves.