This summer, over 30 Colorado organizations stood together in solidarity with Aurora residents, organized as Save The Aurora Reservoir, to oppose the massive and dangerous Aurora Reservoir Fracking Plan which is officially known as the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan (“the CAP”).  Together, our 34 groups submitted an open letter to Governor Polis calling on him to tell his oil & gas regulatory agency, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (“ECMC”) that he opposes the CAP. Combined with the already-approved “Box Elder CAP” just to the north, the Lowry Ranch CAP means a 300-well expansion of oil & gas into the Denver metro area within Colorado’s “severe” ozone nonattainment area.

 

Having more than 30 organizations standing together and speaking with one voice was a meaningful act of solidarity and cooperation towards our shared goals of protecting people and the planet from the harmful impacts of fracking in Colorado. This is the kind of collaborative action we need to effectively fight the expansion of oil & gas extraction in Colorado, including this large-scale risky proposal, which will add more than 150 new oil & gas fracking wells around and under the Aurora Reservoir, Aurora schools, the Lowry Landfill SuperFund Site, and thousands of Aurora homes. 

In a failure to listen to his constituents, Governor Polis did not respond to the letter or make any public statements regarding the CAP. Here is a brief recap of the ECMC hearing and decision: 

• On Wednesday, August 7th, after two full days of hearings the prior week, the ECMC commissioners voted 3 to 1 to approve the Lowry Ranch CAP, with the contingency that each individual oil and gas development plan within the CAP must use electric drilling and production to reduce noise and emissions. 
• The decision felt close at times, with Commissioner Ackerman expressing serious reservations about adequate wildlife protections, Commissioner Cross stating, “I am troubled by the CAP not including as much information as it could and probably should,” and even Commission Chair Robbins at one point saying, “as we try to figure out what to do with this — It may be easier just to deny the damn thing!” 
• Ultimately, Commissioner Messner was the sole vote against approval, stating, “The operator has the burden of proof to show not just electrification but that they’ve evaluated and addressed cumulative impacts. I’m not sure they’ve met that burden.” 

Though this is not the outcome that Save The Aurora Reservoir and our groups were looking for, the words and the vote cited above indicate some progress. The ECMC almost never rejects any permit or plan before the full commission, and the decisions are almost always unanimous by the commissioners. If properly enforced, the electrification condition will lessen some immediate local impacts. And finally, this is the first time a local resident group was able to participate in a “comprehensive area plan” proceeding as an “affected party.”  We celebrate that STAR was able to add evidence to the record and zealously advocate for a better outcome thanks to the help of an experienced environmental attorney.

From here, local residents have vowed to act on the ECMC commissioners’ suggestion to participate in the hearings on each individual well pad application within the CAP. In STAR’s words, “we have their attention and we aren’t going anywhere.”  

 

Check out media coverage about the open letter to Polis:

• “State regulators delay decision on controversial drilling plan near Aurora Reservoir,” The Denver Post, Judith Kohler
• “30 Environmental Groups Ask Gov. Polis to Oppose Drilling Proposal,” Colorado Times Recorder, Vaughn Vial
• “Fate of oil and gas drilling proposal near Aurora homes to be decided following hearing this week,” Colorado Newsline, Chase Woodruff
• “Colorado regulators approve unpopular, reckless Lowry Ranch oil and gas plan,” Sierra Club Press Release 
• Many more articles about the CAP can be found on STAR’s media webpage here.

 

Save The Aurora Reservoir, 350 Colorado, and allies will continue to stand side by side in the continued fight. We will invite our members to join in future advocacy and action as the 8 individual well pads within the CAP are considered, and as Arapahoe County works to update their oil & gas regulations that will apply to those well pads. 

We encourage all supporters to stay in touch with Save The Aurora Reservoir through the STAR website here and their social media accounts, STAR on Facebook here and STAR on Instagram here. Supporting this tenacious grassroots effort is exactly the kind of meaningful local action Coloradans can take to protect our health, wildlife, water, air, and climate.