I spent all of yesterday in a hearing in Denver. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission held an all day hearing on proposed changes to fracking rules. The day was structured so that public comments were accepted first, then the staff of the Commission submitted their report, based on comments made on-line prior to the hearing date and their research, then the parties with "status" submitted their testimony. The first party with "status" was the oil and gas industry, followed by environmentalists and representatives of local government. I confess, I missed the presentations by local governments, because the hearing was still going strong when I left, at about 5:00 p.m.

The oil and gas industry primarily testified about two things. First up was a discussion of the design of the FracFocus website, which is a place where industry is posting some details about chemicals used at wellsites. They were concerned with the proposed rule because it requires that the website be searchable by chemical, in addition to the other criteria which can already been searched. Their second concern was with the "trade secrets loophole". A representative from Halliburton testified that they had propriatory recipes for chemicals that were being used in the fracking process that had increased production in some fields by as much as 25%. He alleged that if Colorado required Halliburton to disclose all chemicals in the recipe, they would lose a competitive advantage because it would be possible to reverse engineer the formula.

Earlier in the day, during the public comment period, one woman pointed out that just because someone gave her the ingredients for creme brule' didn't mean that she would be able to make it. I've seen the recipe for creme brule' and I don't think I could make it even with complete instructions! Another person testifying pointed out that the food industry already is required to list all ingredients, and their ingredients aren't nearly as dangerous as the chemicals used by the oil and gas industry. And taking the food discussion full circle, Halliburton said that in their new "green" technology much of the chemicals they are using are being sourced from the food industry.

The first group up after the testimony presented by industry was Western Colorado Congress. We were one of four groups that were granted "party status" in the hearing. Each of the four groups were given 1.5 hours to present their case. Western Colorado Congress wants full disclosure of all fracking chemicals, pre-notification of chemicals to be used so that landowners can obtain baseline data of how their land and water looks pre-drilling and fracking. We brought in three witnesses: an activist from Battlement Mesa, a former Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner and Garfield County Commissioner, and an activist from Clark, Wyoming. Tresi Houpt, the former Commissioner, testified about people reporting illnesses after fracking activity on or near their property, bringing in the public health concerns. The woman from Wyoming, has been at ground zero where the EPA has confirmed that water wells in Pavilion, Wyoming have been pollutted by industry activities. Halliburton had testified that there had never been any demonstrated pollution of water from industry practices--a position that was challenged by Rich Allward, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner who lives in Grand Junction.

Members of the front range environmental commission delivered all of their testimony through their attorney, Mike Freeman. At one point I was amused when Freeman quoted a bit of case law that sent an oil and gas attorney to his law book. Freeman was a bit softer on the issue than was Western Colorado Congress. He was willing to accept some trade secrets, so long as regulators had access to the detail of chemicals contained in the formulas.

The COGCC will vote on this rule in a meeting in Greeley on Monday.  

On October 25, 2011, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) held an open meeting to decide if public hearings should be held about fracking rules. The result of the meeting was to instruct staff to “initiate a rule making for purposes of adopting rules governing the public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals, including notification of hydraulic fracturing operations.”

The proposed rules were made public on November 10. Commissioner W. Perry Peace was designated as the hearing officer, and interested parties were given until 5:00 p.m. on November 17 to file for “party status.” The status request required any interested parties to provide contact information and “a brief summary of any policy, factual, or legal issues the applicant has with the proposed regulations.”

Any member of the community can participate in this public hearing process. There are two ways to do so: by submitting comments in writing prior to the public hearing, or by speaking during the public comment period during the hearing –which will be limited by the Commission. Groups are asked to appoint one spokesperson.

If an organization has “party status” they are required to submit their comments, limited to 15 pages, prior to the hearing date. An alternate proposal may be submitted by any organization with “party status.” An alternate proposal must contain text of a proposed rule and a proposed statement of basis and purpose.

There will be a prehearing conference on November 29, in Denver. Anybody with “party status” who fails to appear at this conference will lose their status.  At this prehearing conference the mechanics of the hearing will be decided: allocation of hearing time, identification of contested matters, identification of witnesses and exhibits.

The actual hearing will be held on December 5. If an organization has “party status” their comments and exhibits will be subject to cross examination. Any cross examination time will reduce the time allotted to the organization to make their presentation.

The COGCC has posted a list of groups with “party status” at their website. They are primarily members of the oil and gas industry: Anadarko Petroleum, Nobel Energy, Inc., Bill Barrett Corporation, Petroleum Development Corporation, Exxon Mobile XTO Energy, Black Hills Exploration, Williams Production RMT Company, Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Colorado Petroleum Association. There are also environmental groups and local governments that have been granted “party status”, including Western Colorado Congress. Notably absent is Mesa County, although Weld County and Gunnison County applied for status.

I’m planning to be in Denver on November 29 and December 5.

Homework

An Inside Look at Fracking a Well

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

Western Colorado Congress

Today is the annual meeting for Western Colorado Congress. There has been a lot of press about the entertainment part of the program: Lee Stetson will be impersonating John Muir in his show Conversations with a Tramp: An Evening with John Muir, which starts at 6:30. Admission is $15, and can be purchased at the door. I’ll be there to sell them to you! The event is being held at the Moss Performing Arts Center at Colorado Mesa University.

Occupy Wall Street

If you live in Grand Junction, you are part of the 99% who have watched your wages stagnate while corporate CEO’s got an increasing piece of the pie. You can show your support for workers in the war for equality and justice by going to 12th and North today for a demonstration of solidarity. On October 15 you can show up at City Hall for another demonstration.

Or you could eat Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. They issued the following statement in support of Occupy Wall Street:

To those who Occupy: We stand with you.
We, the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors, compelled by our personal convictions and our Company’s mission and values, wish to express our deepest admiration to all of you who have initiated the non-violent Occupy Wall Street Movement and to those around the country who have joined in solidarity. The issues raised are of fundamental importance to all of us. These include:

• The inequity that exists between classes in our country is simply immoral.
• We are in an unemployment crisis. Almost 14 million people are unemployed. Nearly 20% of African American men are unemployed. Over 25% of our nation’s youth are unemployed.
• Many workers who have jobs have to work 2 or 3 of them just to scrape by.
• Higher education is almost impossible to obtain without going deeply in debt.
• Corporations are permitted to spend unlimited resources to influence elections while stockpiling a trillion dollars rather than hiring people.

We know the media will either ignore you or frame the issue as to who may be getting pepper sprayed rather than addressing the despair and hardships borne by so many, or accurately conveying what this movement is about. All this goes on while corporate profits continue to soar and millionaires whine about paying a bit more in taxes. And we have not even mentioned the environment.

We know that words are relatively easy but we wanted to act quickly to demonstrate our support. As a board and as a company we have actively been involved with these issues for years but your efforts have put them out front in a way we have not been able to do. We have provided support to citizens’ efforts to rein in corporate money in politics, we pay a livable wage to our employees, we directly support family farms and we are working to source fairly traded ingredients for all our products. But we realize that Occupy Wall Street is calling for systemic change. We support this call to action and are honored to join you in this call to take back our nation and democracy.

   — Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors

Homework

John Muir

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

The old saying is that April showers bring May flowers, but rain is rare in our high desert climate. The pounding rain that we enjoyed overnight has made me all optimistic about things that grow. I’ve been chomping at the bit, wanting to get my hands dirty in the garden, but keep looking at the swan on the Grand Mesa, and note that its neck is not yet broken. The planting of annuals and things like tomatoes and chilies will have to wait for another few weeks. In the meanwhile, it looks like we are about to have a bumper crop of lilacs.

Water is essential to all things living, which is why a celebration is in order when we see rain falling in our valley. It is also why it would be better if Western Colorado remained essentially intact as redistricting progresses through the legislative process. The front range needs to occasionally hear that there are living things that need water out here in the wild and wooly west—everything from grapes that are responsible for the growing wine industry in Colorado, to the sweet and juicy peaches that drip nectar down our collective chin come September, to the 150,000 (give or take a few thousand) of us living in Mesa County.

Club 20 was originally founded to make sure that Western Slope water was protected from the water grabbing Front Range. It is still on the job, monitoring legislation that impacts the surrounding national forests and the availability of usable water on the Western Slope. Likewise, the Western Colorado Congress was established to make sure that industry used best practices in development for everything from bedroom communities to oil and gas exploration to vehicle access to roadless areas in national forests. The ideas for both organizations, although often politically in opposite camps, stem from wanting to make sure that the Western Slope is heard when it comes to our water.

Putting things into perspective, it is useful in a crisis to be reminded that 10 years from now nobody will remember the agony of this moment. It is an especially useful reminder when redistricting and gerrymandering are the topics, because in 10 years, literally, the problem will be different. But right now, as fascinating as I think it would be to watch Jared Polis interact with people from Grand Junction, lumping this small city into the liberal capital of Colorado doesn’t make a lot of sense. We just don’t have all that much in common, and we still have water to protect.

Homework
Club 20

Western Colorado Congress

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Water in Western Colorado

Spring Fling

The annual fundraiser for the Mesa County Democrats is just around the corner. It will be held at Two Rivers Convention Center on April 9, starting at 5:30 for cocktails and a silent auction, then a dinner at 7:00. We’ve invited speakers from the Latino Community and local unions. The key note address will be delivered by Sal Pace, someone ColoradoPols is tracking as a potential candidate for the 3rd Congressional District.  Tickets are $50/person. Reservations must be made no later than April 6. There is more information at the Mesa County Democratic Party’s website. (Hint: They’ll ask you to phone me for additional information! And, no, I don’t know what the meal will be. Yet.)

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Western Colorado Congress is sponsoring a film festival at the Avalon on Saturday night, starting at 7:00 p.m. The featured films focus on rivers and watersheds. Tickets are only $7 if purchased in advance. This is a great idea for date night, and it won’t break your budget. If you are feeling frisky, you can also purchase beer and wine at the Avalon before the movie. The Mesa County chapter is looking for new members, so there will be WCC-MC representatives at the theatre offering discounted memberships. An individual membership, which normally is $35, will be available for $10 if you join at the film festival.

Insurance Exchanges

One of the things required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is insurance exchanges that will allow people to shop for affordable insurance, to be subsidized by the federal government. A bill is working its way through the Colorado state legislature that will define how those exchanges will be set up in Colorado. Please note, Kevin King, that this is not a government take-over of health care. These health insurance policies will be sold by for-profit insurance companies already doing business in Colorado. I’ve linked below to information about these exchanges at the State of Colorado website.

And for the people who argue that health care insurance should not be mandatory, I have this to say to you. I’ve paid for health insurance since I was 18, I’m now 62—you do the math. My premiums keep going up because idiots like you think that hospitals should take care of you in an emergency even if you haven’t been paying into the system. Hospitals have to pay their staff and their suppliers, so they increase the pricing of their services to the people who do pay to cover all of their costs. I’ve been paying for you for years, now it is your turn to take some responsibility for yourself. You wouldn’t consider a single-payer system, which would drive down costs, so we are stuck with mandatory health insurance which still funnels money to for-profit insurance companies so that their executives can enjoy the lap of luxury thanks to their million dollar bonuses, while uninsured people die because they can’t access quality health care. I’m really tired of you greedy bastards.

Helpful Links

Mesa DEMS Website

Wild and Scenic  Film Fest

US Government Website about Affordable Health Care

State of Colorado's Website about Health Care Reforms

There is an interesting article at the Western Colorado Progressive website today. Evidently a concerned citizen wrote to Steve King revealing her concerns about two bills currently under consideration in the Senate. The response from her elected “representative” was that he was voting for the bills that she opposed and that if she didn’t stop contacting his office through an organization to which she belongs, he would block any further contact. It seems that he believes that her E-mail to him was preventing him from communicating with his constituents. You can see both her original E-mail and King’s response by linking to Western Colorado Progressive, below.

I’m really sorry to hear that Senator King has such disdain for constituent concerns because I plan on contacting him frequently, and organizing others to do the same. Last night I was elected to the board of Western Colorado Congress—an organization that is all about empowering ordinary citizens to impact the local quality of life. WCC has done wonderful work in the past, especially in areas concerning the health of the Colorado River and Grand Junction’s water supply. They have also been instrumental in seeking appropriate regulations for the uranium industry.

I look forward to working with this organization, and will be posting about our activities both here and at my Facebook page. Regarding Facebook, we took down our public page, and now the only page is personal for friends and family. But we accept all friend-requests, and only block those who become disruptive. A difference of opinion is not considered disruptive, but name calling is. We employ the same policy at this blog. We welcome differing opinions, but will not tolerate abusive language or opinions that cannot be supported by fact. (So, Kevin King, if you are reading this, Breitbart is not an acceptable source for information—he has been soundly discredited with his shameful support of the criminal lies published about ACORN.)

Homework

Western Colorado Progressive

Western Colorado Congress