Boulder County Responds to Lawsuit Filed by the
Colorado Attorney General
Statement from the Boulder County Commissioners
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017
The Colorado Attorney General sent a special valentine to the oil and gas industry today by filing a lawsuit against Boulder County for our working to safeguard our community from the industrial impacts of oil and gas development.
Drilling proposals of 20 to 40 wells per site are being proposed near residential neighborhoods, schools, parks, and recreational areas up and down the Front Range, and we believe it is our responsibility to ensure that we have the strongest possible protections in place for the residents of Boulder County and the world-class environment we have worked hard to protect and preserve.
It’s a sweetheart deal for the oil and gas industry, but a massive waste of Coloradans’ tax dollars for the State to sue us on industry’s behalf, and we are prepared to defend our right to safeguard the health, safety, and wellbeing of our constituents.
As we stated when we first responded to the Attorney General’s January 26 letter, Boulder County understands its legal constraints on adopting local bans and lengthy moratoria; however, the current moratorium is of a materially shorter duration and is consistent with Colorado law.
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Next Steps:
The Board of County Commissioners will proceed as scheduled to review the updated regulations that staff has been working on since last May at a public hearing on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, at 2 p.m. The commissioners have scheduled a follow-up public meeting on Thursday, March 23, 2017, at 2 p.m. to deliberate their findings from the public hearing and to make a decision on the adoption of new oil and gas regulations for unincorporated Boulder County.
For more information about the March 14 public hearing and the subsequent follow-up meeting on March 23, visit the county’s oil and gas development website.
For the county's response to the Colorado Attorney General's January 26 letter, see: http://bit.ly/bocc01-27-2017
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