Colorado highway engineers are seeking U.S. Forest Service approval to use remote-controlled blasters to trigger small snowslides in an attempt to keep big avalanches from blocking Berthoud Pass.
State government enforcers increasingly are letting oil and gas companies that break rules do public service projects instead of imposing formal penalties.
The shift reflects evolving efforts by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to cope with expanding industrial operations in a way that demonstrably helps harmed communities.
The COGCC “continually seeks to put into practice a robust enforcement program,” COGCC director Matt Lepore wrote in response to Denver Post queries.
LOVELAND PASS — Oil and gas tankers roared through Colorado’s high-mountain tundra at a rate of one every five minutes Monday morning, two days after a crash that spilled 4,000 gallons of diesel and unleaded fuel into waterways that flow toward Denver’s Dillon Reservoir.
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.
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