Summit aims to answer oil, gas exploration questions
How much water is used in drilling for oil and natural gas? Does the process harm the water supply? How do property owners know if they own the mineral rights to their land?
Does oil and gas production affect air quality?
These and other questions will be answered next week at two public summits featuring representatives from state agencies. See below for details on the meetings.
(Click here for a Gazette story on the topic).
“My intent is to educate policy makers and property owners in El Paso and Elbert counties about the impacts and issues associated with large-scale industrial oil and gas production in communities that solely rely on groundwater as their primary source of water,” said State Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan.
She organized the summits, in conjunction with El Paso County officials.
El Paso County doesn’t have a history of striking oil or natural gas, but some energy companies are banking on the possibility because of a new extraction method known as fracking, in which fluids are injected in the ground.
And Colorado’s eastern plains are ripe with potential. The Niobrara Shale formation, the latest fossil fuel find in the area, undercuts much of eastern Colorado and parts of Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska.
“Some people don’t believe there’s anything under the ground, but many are very concerned about their water supply and water quality issues,” Looper said.
As some residents are being asked to lease their land’s mineral rights for exploratory drilling by oil and gas operators, El Paso County has started working on land use regulations for the industry. The county attorney’s office recently hired former Morgan County Attorney George Monsoon, who specializes in oil and gas regulations.
Looper said it’s unknown what mining the Niobrara will do to the Denver Basin Aquifer, the Niobrara hydrocarbon basin and the geological formations beneath them.
An impact study is needed, she said, to determine environmental and economic impacts of large-scale production in the Denver Basin Aquifer, which fully and partially supplies 500,000 residents from Arapahoe County to southern El Paso County.
The Colorado Geological Survey has spent 12 years mapping approximately 430,000 acres of the surface geology of the aquifers in El Paso County, Looper said. This week, the agency is scheduled to publish a regional compilation of mapping from Fort Carson to Highlands Ranch, along with a report on the geology of exposed aquifers at the surface.
DETAILS
Niobrara Oil and Gas Summits
Tuesday Aug. 16, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Mountain View Electric Association, 11140 E. Woodmen Road, Falcon.
Program: State Geologist Vince Matthews will describe the Denver Basin Aquifer, Niobrara hydrocarbon basin and the geological formations beneath them. The Oil and Gas Commission will explain the permitting process. Kevin Rien, assistant state engineer, will discuss produced water and oversight by the Ground Water Commission and Department of Water Resources. Representatives from the oil and gas industry will explain rules and oversight for protecting natural resources.
Aug. 18, 6 to 8 p.m., El Paso County Public Services Facility, 3255 Akers Drive, Colorado Springs. Focus: Fracking and county-level issues, including land use regulations and property rights.
