Colorado B.S. Thread

x2

 

I understand what you're saying but for starters no one is drilling in someone's backyard. They are drilling in open space that surrounds residential communities and elementary schools.

Regardless of the mineral rights of my property, which I was very well familiar with when I bought in 2002, there needs to be regulation in place for setbacks from residential and, in this case, schools.

The US imports most of our oil from Canada. Canada provides us with more oil than all of OPEC, 2.5x more than Saudi Arabia and Iraq combined. It's been this way for a very long time. And I'm pretty sure Canada is not funding the Taliban, Al Queada, ISIS, etc.

And the best way to stop relying on oil and gas is to shift the paradigm. But that's not happening.

 

Stunning intellectual abilities. Bravo.

 

Up in the air

 

You're no doubt aware of this, since 1951 the COGCC is the state regulator within the Dept of Natural Resources for these matters.

The current policies and rules on their website: http://cogcc.state.co.us/reg.html#/rules

It's all esoteric and legalese, but if there are things you want see changed you could petition them (or ask your rep or senator) or go to public hearings.

The most recent revision of rules for this stuff for which I'm aware was in 2013, when they changed the setback and mitigation rules, adding 500' and 1000' zones. For example there's a special exception zone around high occupancy buildings (such as a school, any location with 50 or more people) that is now 1,000'. If drilling is within that 1,000' zone there are additional things that have to happen, one of which is I believe there has to be a surface use agreement in place.

I'm not defending anyone here, but there are rules and the commission isn't totally in the tank for the oil & gas companies. But in the end their job is manage the resources, so their fundamental assumption is that the state's minerals are going to be extracted and they try to manage the impacts, so the results aren't necessarily going to match everyone's desires.

 

Truth. I’m on my computer “looking for a wiring schematic”. But i stopped caring about this machine so here I am.

 

Fully agree.

 

Ya'll need to have a beer.

 

I like that cup, may need to snag one

 

I may have one or two in the cupboard...

 

Do you need to free up some cupboard space??

 

Looks like fracking effluent

 

Dibs

 

Caveat emptor. It's pretty easy to point the finger somewhere else and find a scapegoat. There are certainly plenty of developers who do shady things and try to hide/mask issues. But I can't tell you the number of times a subdivision goes in and within a few years people start complaining about the feedlot a couple miles away or the noise from approaching aircraft to the air field even further away which were there long before that subdivision and when they bought the lot/house. Or the people who buy that nice farmhouse just outside of town that is surrounded by subdivisions fifteen years later, or the building goes up next door blocking that view they had, etc. If there were visible signs of drilling nearby, or a known/disclosed plan that there's going to be a rig here in x years, sure people might think twice about buying a place. The fact that there isn't is no excuse for the buyer not to do their own homework. Time is a moving target, and we're in this window where some people know to think about/look at extraction issues and others don't, where not many years ago nobody did and not many from now probably everybody will. As has already been mentioned, severed mineral rights notification is a requirement here - and it isn't just oil and gas. You look at some of the issues with gravel operations and the number of pits and what used to be pits up and down the front range...

Yeah... no. In some cases, sure, because there are operators buying up lands to get the mineral rights or secure operating pads, or actually more often to secure water rights necessary for the fracking, and then selling off the land and surface rights to potentially developers. But since most municipalities require you come in with your own water or pay big sums, there's an impact on that kind of thing. And a lot of the mineral rights are leased, not owned - so you could blame your neighbor and/or the HOA who leased his share for being part of that majority required in the block for extraction to actually occur.

However the bigger point is knowing at the time and the desirability, feasibility, and viability of an extraction operation. All this fracking never would have happened not to many years ago because the technology and such weren't there to do it in a profitable manner. Then compound that with what defines profitable is current market rate, and even look at the last fifteen years in this state and how operations have boomed and shut down as the price of oil (and or gas, since we've already talked about how gas is actually the primary product) fluctuates and will continue to do so. There is no predicting long term where and when, compared to development, mineral resources are going to be targeted. Never mind that developments can take years or decades to build out (also related to economy of course). I worked on some when I first got here in 2001 that still have not completed, though the 2008 crash is a major factor in that.

TL;DR, lots of people share in the 'blame' and I sure wouldn't give extraction operators a free pass to dump everything on developers. If the development is there before the rig, the rig has to meet setbacks set by the state. If the rig is there first, then you can blame the developer for being right up against that minimum setback they're required to meet which is the greater of that set by the state or the local municipality.

 

I’m coming to your house for that milk bread party!!!!