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 19, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution, Water
Dealing with the toxic legacy of PCE and other cancer-causing chemicals poisoning soil, water and air inside buildings will require cooperation, lawmakers and state officials said this week.
The director of Colorado’s $500 million effort to clean up thousands of leaking underground storage tanks at gas stations said he envisions a possible role for his agency in accelerating cleanups.
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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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February 13, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Oil and Gas Drilling
Western voters are more likely to support congressional candidates willing to protect nature and public lands, a new poll finds.
But a majority of those polled also favor energy development — of solar and wind, in particular — within limits, according to the survey commissioned as part of Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies project.
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February 9, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Food Supply, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Drilling, Pollution, Water
Spills releasing PCE, the cancer-causing chemical used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing, have produced at least 86 underground plumes across Colorado that are poisoning soil and water and fouling air inside buildings.
Cleaning up this chemical is a nightmare — a lesson in the limits of repairing environmental harm. The best that Colorado health enforcers and responsible parties have been able to do is keep the PCE they know about from reaching people.
But based on a review of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment case files, people likely have been exposed.
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February 9, 2014 · The Denver Post
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post Staff Writer
Environment, Pollution, Water
Spills releasing PCE, the cancer-causing chemical used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing, have produced at least 86 underground plumes across Colorado that are poisoning soil and water and fouling air inside buildings.
Cleaning up this chemical is a nightmare — a lesson in the limits of repairing environmental harm. The best that Colorado health enforcers and responsible parties have been able to do is keep the PCE they know about from reaching people.
Data Graphic
Follow-up (02/19/2014)
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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.
