Colorado community hopeful in fight to stop fracking near Aurora Reservoir
The fight to stop fracking near the Aurora Reservoir by a neighborhood environmental group in Aurora moved into the next phase, and they are feeling hopeful based on a decision that the state recently made.
Community Director with Save the Aurora Reservoir, or STAR, Randy Willard is trying to get his community ready to have their voices heard on Monday, January 27th.
"We've been communicating pretty consistently with the community as well and are hoping to get, maybe not the 250 we have at the last community meetings, but certainly 100 or 150," said Willard.
STAR has spent years opposing a fracking project by Civitas slated to be built near the Aurora Reservoir. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission has scheduled a public meeting on Monday to hear feedback about the first of eight well sites Civitas wants to build. Willard said STAR is ready to speak up.
"They need to be more aware of the cumulative impacts of all these projects that it is our environment and that they are at some level responsible for not only us, but the environment as well," said Willard.
This past summer Willard and STAR presented a case against the Lowry Ranch CAP development to the ECMC, but ultimately the commission decided to approve the project.
Now each of the eight well sites Civitas wants to build must be approved and the state commission is asking for feedback.
"We are in a 45-day public comment period where folks can comment in many different ways, including coming to this in person meeting. All of that public comment is taken into account by our commission, who will then deliberate and host a public meeting, an adjudicated hearing later this spring," said Kristin Kemp, the Public Information Officer & Community Relations Manager for Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission.
In a statement, a Civitas spokesperson said:
"We appreciate the interest and engagement on this project over the course of the past two and a half years. Following the approval of our best-in-class Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan last year, we agree this proposal is a better one thanks to the suggestions made by stakeholders, regulators, elected officials and more. The upcoming ECMC public hearing provides another avenue for stakeholders to share their insights on one of the pad sites within the comprehensive area plan. We're especially proud of our design and utilization of the latest technologies to achieve and even exceed the state's and Arapahoe County's regulations, which remain among the strictest in the country."
The ECMC recently tabled a well proposal in Weld County. Willard said that makes STAR optimistic about this upcoming meeting.
"It did give us some hope," said Willard.
That meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday, Jan. 27 at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds in Aurora.