Environmental News
Environmental News from Boulder, Colorado
Boulder County Commissioners reject agreement with Denver Water Board on the proposed Gross Reservoir expansion
Jan 8th
Boulder County, Colo. – Last night, the Board of County Commissioners declined to sign an intergovernmental agreement with the Denver Water Board regarding the proposed expansion of Gross Reservoir.
After hearing to more than six hours of public testimony over a span of two public hearings – Dec. 20 and Jan. 7 – and receiving more than 200 written communications from Boulder County residents, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously decided not to support the IGA.
The intergovernmental agreement was signed by the Denver Water Board on December 19, 2012, and would have served in lieu of review of the reservoir expansion project under the Boulder County Land Use Code. The IGA had been negotiated by the staffs of Boulder County and Denver Water as a way to address the impacts of the project and to define appropriate mitigation measures, but ultimately didn’t go far enough in protecting the quality of life for residents in the area in the opinion of the County Commissioners.
While they acknowledged some benefits that would result from the proposed agreement, the County Commissioners indicated that the terms of the proposed agreement did not do enough to protect the health, safety and welfare of their constituents or the environment and that they thought it was premature to enter into any agreement before the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which is due later in 2013.
Following the release of the final EIS, the commissioners will work with county staff on a thorough response to the findings, and continue to work with members of the public to address ongoing concerns about the impacts of the proposed project.
Visit www.bouldercounty.org/property/build/pages/moffatgrossiga.aspx for more information. To view the archived video from last night’s hearing, visit the hearings page and select the business meeting for Jan. 7 at www.bouldercounty.org/gov/meetings/pages/hearings.aspx.
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Boulder county commissioners take oil and gas panel to task over water-testing
Jan 7th
Statement from Boulder County Commissioners on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s new water testing rule
Boulder County – Earlier today, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC ) adopted a new rule for groundwater testing that has been deemed one of the weakest in the nation by citizens and environmental advocates:
“The Boulder County Commissioners are extremely disappointed that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has decided against putting in place a science-based groundwater protection plan to ensure oil and gas development will not have a detrimental impact to the state’s groundwater resources.
This is especially true in the Greater Wattenberg Area, a large geographic area that includes parts of eastern Boulder County and is exempted wholesale from the statewide rule, making this significant expanse of land subject only to a cursory testing requirement despite having some of the most intensive drilling activity in the state.
This type of rulemaking at the state level is a prime example of why local governments should be able to respond directly to their citizens’ concerns and provide for their community’s request for more protection.”
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Boulder County Environmental Sustainability Plan available for public review
Dec 24th
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Environmental News
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Boulder County, Colo. – After years of collaborative work with county staff, elected officials and local partners, Boulder County has released a draft of its Environmental Sustainability Plan for public comment and feedback prior to its adoption on Jan. 3.
Once adopted, there will be an extensive public review process to continue to tweak parts of the plan and develop an implementation strategy for each of the elements of the plan.
What: Public hearing to adopt the Environmental Sustainability Plan
When: Thursday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m.
Where: Commissioners’ Hearing Room, Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder (map)
Comments may also be submitted to commissioners@bouldercounty.org.
The plan was drafted to articulate Boulder County’s vision to create a more environmentally sustainable community as well as provide a blueprint for achieving the county’s collective environmental sustainability goals. In addition, it’s intended that the plan will act as a launching point to help set communitywide environmental priorities and develop shared resources to achieve more regional environmental sustainability goals.
The plan addresses county internal operations as well as the environmental services provided for residents and businesses. It is broken into nine categories including air quality, climate, ecological health, energy and buildings, health and wellness, local food and agriculture, transportation, water and zero waste.
Each section concludes with policy priorities and actions that employees, residents and businesses can take to positively impact Boulder County. More specific timeframes, funding sources, selection of implementation leaders and/or partners will be addressed in an implementation plan, which will guide Boulder County employees in executing the strategies in the Environmental Sustainability Plan.
The next phase of the environmental sustainability planning process is to solicit feedback and insight from the community including key stakeholders and experts on what is missing from the plan and how to best carry out the strategies outlined.
For a copy of the plan, please visit:
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