The debate over the health of the natural gas industry will shape the 2010 campaign for the governor’s office, key seats in the state legislature and even local-level county commissioner races. Unsurprisingly, there are fundamental disagreements about what is happening on the ground in gas country.
Environmental activists are calling on Colorado officials to require oil and gas companies to chemically tag the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly controversial natural gas drilling process. Many suspect that “fracking” may be contaminating ground water and chemical tags would make it possible for regulators to identify the source of any contamination. The idea is a hot topic among those favoring increased federal oversight of the process, but industry officials won’t even discuss the idea, and state regulators say it’s barely on their radar screens.
The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent Wednesday, piggybacking on reporting by the Denver Post on Sunday, revealed a private consulting firm in Littleton narrowed down the potential source of a spring contaminated by natural gas production to two Western Slope operators.
The oil and gas industry hates change, especially if it’s going to cost them money and time. With Colorado’s severance tax rate on natural gas production one of the lowest in the West and Third World protection on the environment…
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