GRAND JUNCTION — Oil and gas supporters overwhelmed state regulators as they met in the midst of western Colorado’s gas patch on Tuesday and warned them that new rules proposed to rein in the industry could spell doom for one of the state’s biggest economic drivers.
All but a handful of more than 1,000 people who filled the Two Rivers Convention Center were either energy industry workers or supporters, and they roared with applause as speaker after speaker called for doing away with proposed rules that would curtail the industry.
Environmentalists and some officials warned their fears were unfounded, but they were far outnumbered by people wearing stickers reading “Please Don’t Rule Us Out” and “Oil and gas feeds my family.” Many took the day off work and came in T-shirts and caps with the names of energy companies, drilling companies and other contractors working in the gas fields.
Most concerns centered on a proposed rule that calls for up to a 90-day drilling ban in critical wildlife habitat. That could include much of western Garfield County’s Piceance Basin, home to the most actively drilled gas fields in the state and winter range for deer and elk. That had most of the crowd worried they would face a three-month winter shutdown.
“I want you to take a look behind me,” said construction worker Josh Geshard, gesturing to the crowd filling the seats and lining the walls. “If you shut down drilling at any point in time, and I’m talking about the moratorium, that’s the number of people who will be standing in unemployment lines.”
Some officials believe those fears are exaggerated.
“It’s not a moratorium,” said Dave Neslin, acting director of the COGCC. “It’s not a prohibition.”
Neslin said that while the restrictions would include much of Garfield County’s drilling fields, they would be waived if companies work out a drilling plan with wildlife officials to protect species. They could also be waived if companies use directional drilling to reach under the critical areas from distant well pads.
“We really don’t want them shutting down,” Neslin said. “We want them working on collaborative mitigation.”
The proposed regulations are part of the Ritter administration’s attempt to shift the emphasis of the COGCC to consider impacts on the environment and landowners in regulating the gas industry. Industry groups have balked at the plans, though. Some companies, including EnCana, one of Garfield County’s biggest players, say the new regulatory environment is forcing them to move to other states.
“I really don’t think these rules are saying we’re going to be shutting the industry down in the Piceance Basin for three months,” said Trési Houpt, a member of the COGCC and a Garfield County commissioner. The county has opposed the new rules.
Garfield County is the heart of Colorado oil and gas country. Last year, 2,550 drilling permits were issued for Garfield County — more than a third of all the permits issued statewide.
“This is kind of the epicenter of a lot of the energy boom in Colorado,” Neslin said.
Some environmentalists criticized the gas industry for sowing unfounded fears of a moratorium.
“The concern of the workers is genuine,” said Duke Cox, chairman of the oil and gas committee for Western Colorado Congress, an environmental group. “But that concern is generated and perpetuated by the lobby for the industry.”
Cox suggested many of the workers who filled the convention center were there on their companies’ payrolls.
In black company shirts, caps, jeans and muddy boots, Jeremiah Little and Michael Chase said they took the day off work, unpaid, from Parachute-based Blac-Frac tanks to attend the hearing, grabbing seats in the front row.
“We should have the right to feed our family as well as they do,” Chase said. “If they shut down for three months, where am I going to go for a job? I live here as well.”
The chorus of industry workers was joined by members of Grand Junction’s business community — real estate agents, insurance sales people, contractors and others — who said their economy depends on the energy industry. They worried the regulations could cause energy companies to flee, creating a repeat of Black Sunday, when Exxon shuttered its oil shale operations in 1982, crippling the region’s economy.
“We’re glad, we’re delighted to have a vibrant and growing energy sector in Western Colorado,” said state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction.
While Garfield County sees many of the rigs and the impacts, Grand Junction, which is in Mesa County, sees many of the jobs. Business owners credited gas workers with boosting their housing values and filling their stores.
Both the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Junction Area Realtor Association have opposed the wildlife restrictions.
Some Garfield County residents warned of downsides that can come with drilling.
“The impacts are beyond significant. They’re detrimental because of a lack of regulation,” said Lisa Bracken, a resident who lives south of Silt near a pond contaminated by a gas seep from nearby drilling. That seep resulted in the largest fine ever issued in Colorado, against the company EnCana.
Bracken said she disagreed with many in the crowd who said the COGCC was moving too quickly to draft the new regulations.
“They’re playing catch-up,” she said.
While commissioners sat in the front of the room, energy industry representatives set up a Power Point presentation opposing new rules in the back, with a large sign reading “Please Don’t Rule Us Out.”
“Why take a healthy industry and make it sick?” asked Meg Collins, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, a trade group.
Collins warned that the new regulations would push oil companies to other states.
“It’s a prescription for a train wreck,” she said.
dfrey@aspendailynews.com