Environmental News
Environmental News from Boulder, Colorado
Oil and gas exploration (fracking) moratorium till health studies in
Jun 18th
Boulder County Commissioners extend temporary moratorium on oil & gas development in unincorporated Boulder County for 18 months
Citing a changing regulatory environment and the need for more public health studies to assess the health impacts of oil and gas development, the County Commissioners voted unanimously to extend the moratorium until the end of 2014
Boulder County, Colo. – By unanimous decision, the Board of County Commissioners today voted to extend the temporary moratorium on oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County for 18 months to expire at the end of 2014.
Citing the need for further health and safety studies to test the impacts of oil and gas development on air and water quality, the commissioners stated that the county is not yet prepared – in terms of inspection and monitoring staff, health data, baseline testing and technical expertise – to process new applications for oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County.
The commissioners also noted that with a dynamic regulatory environment around the issue, new rulemaking could affect how the county regulates oil and gas under its own authority in the future.
“We are living in a regulatory environment where regulations and rules are changing rapidly,” said County Commissioner Deb Gardner. “A short delay in extraction is legal, necessary and appropriate when balanced against our fundamental duty as elected officials to protect public health, safety, welfare and the environment from potential adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration and development, and to minimize potential land use conflicts between those activities and current or planned land uses.”
Gardner’s sentiments were supported and confirmed by her fellow commissioners, Cindy Domenico and Elise Jones.
Extensive feedback on the moratorium was received from members of the public over a period of 16 months from February 2012 to the present. Over 1,100 comments were submitted this week alone by the time of the June 18 public hearing, all but about a dozen of which stated a preference for extending the moratorium.
In general, public comments have overwhelmingly supported extending the moratorium to assess health and safety impacts of oil and gas drilling to area residents. In addition, on June 5th the Boulder County Planning Commission, by a vote of 7-0, recommended that the Board of County Commissioners extend the current temporary moratorium.
Today’s public hearing also included a decision to table indefinitely Docket DC-12-0003 “Proposed Amendments to Article 12 of the Boulder County Land Use Code (oil and gas regulations), to include a phasing plan.” With the extended temporary moratorium in place, Land Use staff will to continue to work on developing an inspection and implementation plan for permitting oil and gas applications.
A taped archive of the hearing is available at: www.bouldercounty.org/gov/meetings/pages/hearings.aspx.
For more information about the county’s role in oil and gas development, please visit the county’s Oil and Gas Development webpage.
Boulder Sheriff’s fire ban extends to county borders
Jun 17th
Monday, June 17, 2013 at 12:00pm, Sheriff Joe Pelle will amend the current fire ban to include the entire mountain area of Boulder County. The fire ban will be in effect until the Sheriff finds that the current hazardous conditions have subsided.
The dry conditions, along with the consistent reports of new large fires across Colorado and the western United States, have moved many federal fire aviation and ground crew resources out of the area. In addition, the holiday camping season is close at hand, increasing the potential for human caused fires.
The United States Forest Service sampled fuels in the Sugarloaf area last week. This included large dead and down logs and also the live tree moistures. Both fuel types are trending towards “very high” fire danger in nature to our local 10- year average. Samples were also taken at higher elevations west of Nederland which included Bunce School, Caribou and the West Magnolia recreational areas. The samples demonstrated the same drying pattern.
This amended fire ban area includes any and all unincorporated areas of Boulder County west of Colorado Highway 93 from its intersection with the southern boundary of Boulder County until and including its intersection with Colorado Highway 119; west of Broadway Avenue in the City of Boulder from its intersection with Colorado Highway 119 until and including its intersection with United States Highway 36; west of United States Highway 36 from its intersection with Broadway Avenue until its intersection with the northern boundary of Boulder County; west of the western boundary of Rabbit Mountain Open Space including United States Highway 36; and all of Rabbit Mountain Open Space.
(See attached map)
(See attached map)
State statutes authorize counties to impose a fire ban “to a degree and in a manner that the Board of County Commissioners deem necessary to reduce the danger of wildfires within those portions of the unincorporated areas of the county where the danger of forest or grass fires is found to be high, based on competent evidence.”
The amended fire ban allows for:
- Indoor fires in fireplaces or stoves.
- Smoking indoors or within an enclosed vehicle.
- Campfires in improved and maintained public campgrounds that are currently open to the public, as long as the actual size of such fire is smaller than two feet in diameter by three feet in height.
- Liquid or gas fuel stoves use on private and public lands.
- Charcoal grill use on private and public land.
- Smoking outdoors in areas free of flammable material.
The amended fire ban prohibits:
- All other outdoor burning, slash fires, use of any kind of fireworks, model rockets, and all other outdoor spark or flame producing activities.
The fire ban does not affect open fires within incorporated cities and towns; however citizens must comply with applicable ordinances and regulations in their respective cities and towns.
Anyone found in violation of the fire ban may be convicted of a class 2 petty offense and may be subject to a $500 fine, in addition to any possible civil penalties. Higher fines may be imposed for subsequent offenses.
For current fire and shooting restrictions for United States Forest Service properties go to the following website:http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices
For current fire restrictions in Eldorado Canyon State Park go to the following website:http://www.parks.state.co.us/Parks/eldoradocanyon/Pages/EldoradoCanyonHome.aspx
This media release may be found on the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office website at: http://www.bouldersheriff.org
City/county recognizes top 5 energy saving businesses
Jun 12th
Enough energy to power 490 homes
The City of Boulder and Boulder County will recognize five local businesses for their outstanding achievement in the EnergySmart program at today’s Boulder Earth Conference. Mayor Matt Appelbaum and County Commissioner Elise Jones will present recognition certificates at the reception, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Boulder Theater, located at 2032 14th St.
“These local businesses are leaders among commercial participants in the EnergySmart program and have achieved the greatest potential energy savings during the past year,” said City of Boulder Business Sustainability Coordinator Elizabeth Vasatka. “Collectively, these businesses are now saving enough energy each year to power approximately 490 Boulder County homes.”
The five businesses to be recognized include:
- The W.W. Reynolds Companies, a leading real estate services company located in Boulder that specializes in property management, leasing and development.
- Hover Senior Living Community, a thriving, forward thinking, caring community located in Longmont, where all are served with integrity and respect.
- Tebo Development Company, a leading commercial real estate owner and developer that offers a wide range of retail, office and industrial space throughout Boulder County.
- WaterStreet Plaza, managed by Gibbons-White, Inc., a group of multi-tenant buildings located in Boulder, with rental units on the ground floor and office suites on the upper three floors.
- SAE Circuits Colorado Incorporated, a manufacturer of quality printed circuit boards located in Boulder that services customers with diverse applications and locations.
Through personalized advising services, EnergySmart helps homes and businesses in all Boulder County communities become more comfortable and energy efficient. Several of the businesses recognized indicated that having knowledgeable advisors by their side helped make the process easier.
- “Working with EnergySmart has been an enjoyable, dream come true. Knowledgeable staff led us to sound energy efficient solutions for all our renovation questions.” — Dan Wagner of Hover Senior Living Community
- “They make our choices clear, provide back-up data, and allow us to complete energy efficient upgrades to our buildings which otherwise would be difficult to coordinate. We are now able to move forward with many additional projects, keeping energy efficiency in mind.” — James Dixon of Tebo Development.
Since 2011, EnergySmart has served more than 2,600 local businesses and issued nearly $1.7 million in rebates to businesses and commercial property owners “We’re thrilled that businesses have invested a total of $8 million to date in energy efficiency retrofits, contributing to local energy and cost savings and supporting vibrant communities throughout Boulder County,” said Susie Strife, Boulder County Sustainability Coordinator.
Developed by Boulder County Business Report and BizWest Media, and co-sponsored by the City of Boulder and Boulder County, this year’s Boulder Earth Conference is convening business, government, political leaders and communities from across Colorado and the world to share knowledge, ideas, and technologies that advance sustainable business practices. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will deliver this year’s keynote address.
EnergySmart provides a full suite of services to help businesses and homes in all Boulder County communities identify valuable energy-saving opportunities and assist them through the energy upgrade process. For more information, call an Energy Advisor at 303-441-1300 (for business) or 303-544-1000 (for home), or visitwww.EnergySmartYES.com. For more information about the Boulder Earth Conference, visitwww.boulderearth.com.
Boulder press release
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