On June 5, Save The Aurora Reservoir (STAR) delivered a petition to Arapahoe County demanding hearings before the Board of County Commissioners for all oil and gas well pad applications within the Lowry Ranch Comprehensive Area Plan (CAP). 

Crestone Peak Resources has requested that its well pad applications be considered through an administrative review process completed by county staff behind closed doors. However, the county has the option to deny that request and instead move forward with a full review before the Board, including public hearings. Separately, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission is considering the request to approve all 164 proposed hydraulic fracturing wells through the CAP review process.

“There has been extraordinary public interest in and opposition to these well sites,” said Marsha Goldsmith Kamin, President of STAR. “It is essential for the Board of County Commissioners to hold full public hearings on these applications to ensure the opportunity for satisfactory stakeholder input and public participation during the review process.”

Marsha hand-delivered the petition, which was signed by more than 630 Coloradans, to Kendra Davis, a management analyst for Arapahoe County. Other county staff, including Michelle Halstead, Director of the Commissioners’ Office, declined to attend due to a prior speaking engagement off site.

Before officially handing off the petition to the county, STAR joined fellow nonprofit group 350 Colorado in publicly stating their concerns to Kendra Davis and members of the media who covered the event.

“STAR has repeatedly sent letters to the County Commissioners asking for specific action items, documents, data and research and has not received a response, other than a form email reply to our numerous public comments made,” Marsha noted in her statement. “That is why we are here, right now. We are hoping that by being here, in person, hand-delivering our petition, the Commissioners will respond to our request.”

Another STAR leader, Randy Willard, spoke about the devastating environmental impacts associated with the project. “This massive drilling plan will impact Denver and the rest of the front range, where we already struggle with air quality and ground-level ozone,” he said. 

Randy also drew attention to other elected officials who have been notably absent from the public debate about fracking at the Aurora Reservoir: “You would think the City of Aurora and Mayor Mike Coffman would be more concerned about this project. The water in the reservoir is pristine — just ask the City of Aurora Dept. of Water. It is the source of drinking water for over 400,000 Aurorans and it is the water we all use every day for cooking, bathing, and watering our lawns and gardens.”

Bobbie Mooney of 350 Colorado closed with her comments, highlighting the concerns of community members alongside inconsistencies in the government process. “Arapahoe County residents fear for their health and safety. This community of concerned residents and organizations has participated at every step in the process possible so far, and contacted Arapahoe County staff and the County Commissioners countless times. But their passionate pleas in public meetings have gone unheard, their formal written requests have gone unanswered.”

“Bottom line: We are here today to demand accountability. We demand transparency into the permit process, and the oil & gas rulemaking process that the County Commissioners promised last year,” Bobbie continued. “We demand a response from Arapahoe County to our petition delivered today, and we demand action — to protect public health, safety, welfare, and the environment, as the law requires.”

STAR and other environmental and social groups, including 350 Colorado, Colorado Rising, Colorado Sierra Club, the Lowry Landfill Superfund Site Citizens Advisory Group, and Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado, now await the county’s response.