May 4, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
Colorado’s intensifying oil and gas boom is taking a toll on soil — 200 gallons spilled per day seeping into once-fertile ground — that experts say could be ruinous.
The state’s approach has been to try to compel companies to excavate and haul the worst muck to landfills.
But with support from state regulators, oil companies increasingly are proposing to clean contaminated soil on site using mixing machinery and microbes. This may be cheaper for the industry — and could save and restore soil.
But it is not proven.
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April 21, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
An oil and gas industry proposal to drill 19 wells within 900 feet of an elementary school in Greeley ignited such parent fury that company officials on Monday backed down.
Mineral Resources Inc. officials said withdrawing their application to drill by the Frontier Academy school is an example of listening to community concerns.
They made their decision as state regulators are investigating recent fires and explosions at industry storage tanks northeast of Denver — including one last week near a different elementary school.
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April 15, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers was walking down Denver’s 16th Street Mall recently when a Greenpeace activist asked if he’d like to ban fracking.
It reflected the intensifying battle over how to balance public demands for a pristine environment and health versus ramped-up production of fossil fuels.
Front Range residents have proposed 17 state ballot measures to bolster local control over drilling, short of a statewide ban, and are drawing support from at least one Internet-made multi-millionaire — U.S. Rep. Jared Polis. Coloradans for Local Control campaign adviser Rick Ridder said national groups also will join the fray, fighting the industry’s Colorado Oil and Gas Association and Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development.
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February 25, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
While Gov. John Hickenlooper, industry leaders and environment advocates praised Colorado’s new statewide air-pollution rules for oil and gas operations, local elected officials and community activists are launching campaigns to buttress local control.
The elected officials, 50 from around the state, have sent a letter urging Hickenlooper and state lawmakers to reinforce local land-use power over oil and gas development.
Separately, Local Control Colorado, a coalition of community activists, is preparing to gather signatures for a November ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to allow stricter local limits.
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February 25, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
While Gov. John Hickenlooper, industry leaders and environment advocates praised Colorado’s new statewide air-pollution rules for oil and gas operations, local elected officials and community activists are launching campaigns to buttress local control.
The elected officials, 50 from around the state, have sent a letter urging Hickenlooper and state lawmakers to reinforce local land-use power over oil and gas development.
Separately, Local Control Colorado, a coalition of community activists, is preparing to gather signatures for a November ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to allow stricter local limits.
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February 23, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
Colorado adopted tougher air pollution rules for the oil and gas industry — the first in the nation to cover methane, a gas linked to climate change.
State air quality control commissioners voted 8-1 on Sunday to pass the rules with the support of leading operators Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy and Encana.
But they did so over the protests of much of the oil and gas industry, including the powerful Colorado Oil and Gas Association and Colorado Petroleum Association trade groups.
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February 23, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
Colorado adopted tougher air pollution rules for the oil and gas industry — the first in the nation to cover methane, a gas linked to climate change.
State air quality control commissioners voted 8-1 on Sunday to pass the rules with the support of leading operators Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy and Encana.
But they did so over the protests of much of the oil and gas industry, including the powerful Colorado Oil and Gas Association and Colorado Petroleum Association trade groups.
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February 21, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
AURORA — Opponents of Colorado’s proposed new air-pollution rules for the oil and gas industry have pressed their case for two days — hammering at the effort backed by Gov. John Hickenlooper to make Colorado the first state to regulate the greenhouse gas methane.
The industry groups Colorado Oil and Gas Association and Colorado Petroleum Association contend any new rules must not cover methane and must not apply statewide.
But leading producers — Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy, Encana and DCP Midstream, the nation’s largest oil and gas gathering company — support the rules.
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February 19, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling, Pollution
AURORA — Colorado officials sought public views on proposed new air-pollution rules for the oil and gas industry — and faced a barrage of concerns.
A majority of the 120 residents who signed up to testify Wednesday before state air-quality control commissioners strongly supported the rules to reduce toxic emissions.
“Air pollution burns our eyes, ears, noses and throats,” said Peggy Tibbets, who drove from Silt in western Colorado to testify.
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February 16, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Drilling
PLATTEVILLE — A cleaner kind of oil and gas production has begun at the epicenter of Colorado’s boom, where pollution threatens the state’s hard-won gains in air quality.
There are no storage tanks, a main source of toxic fumes.
Valves that hiss steadily at old-style facilities are replaced by “low-bleed” valves that pollute only in tight spurts.
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A journalist and lawyer, Bruce Finley has investigated local, national and international issues with on-site reporting in more than 40 countries. In his position as a staff writer for the Denver Post, he is focusing on environment-related news including water challenges, the oil and gas boom and wildfire.
