Dec 15, 2006 6:34 pm US/Mountain
Smog Regulators Consider Crackdown On Oil, Gas
By Judith Kohler, Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) ―
Four years after declaring itself cured of smog, Colorado's most populous region is fighting off a relapse -- rising ozone levels blamed on the booming oil and gas industry.
State air regulators meet Sunday to consider a crackdown on the drilling industry, which releases pollutants into the air from tanks that collect liquids and other drilling byproducts. The emissions react with sunlight to form ozone, the main ingredient of smog.
The state faces a July deadline from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to come up with a plan to reduce ozone along the Front Range from Denver's southern suburbs north into Larimer and Weld counties, where rising demand for energy is driving a big increase in drilling.
The rare Sunday meeting of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission will consider new rules for the industry. The board also will consider extending some regulation to oil and gas wells elsewhere in the state -- the first time such rules would be imposed beyond the Front Range. Changes would be reviewed by the Legislature.
The struggles with ozone come just a few years after the Denver metro area wiped out much of the brown cloud that lay over it during the winter, sometimes obscuring views of the snowcapped Rockies. In 2002, the EPA declared the area in compliance with air quality standards.
"There's so much riding on this rule-making: people's health," said Jeremy Nichols, director of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action.
Ozone poses significant health risks, especially for young children and people with respiratory problems such as asthma.
The commission held contentious meetings in November, hearing testimony from the industry, environmentalists and western Coloradans who want the state to clamp down on quickly expanding oil and gas operations there.
The EPA has agreed to put off declaring the Front Range and other communities in violation of the Clean Air Act if they meet certain milestones.
But in November, the EPA gave all the areas but the Front Range until April 15, 2008, to do that after getting negative comments from Colorado communities and residents. The nine-county area encompassing the Front Range must meet the goals by July 1, although state officials said that could be extended if the state makes progress by spring.
The oil and gas industry, which is seeing record development rates, contends it is unfairly being singled out. But state officials have said while pollution from vehicles and other sources has decreased, emissions from oil and gas operations in northeastern Colorado have shot up.
Mike Silverstein, manager of planning and policy for the state air pollution control division, said the state has calculated that it must reduce smog-forming emissions from oil and gas wells. Colorado's agreement with the EPA had envisioned the emissions totaling 146 tons a day by next year, but new projections show them reaching 233 tons.
In an industry-backed compromise, companies would have to reduce overall emissions from tanks that collect liquids and other byproducts by 73.3 percent. The tanks are routinely vented.
Environmentalists prefer the state's original plan, which would have regulated tanks individually. Nichols of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action said he could support the compromise if companies are required to cut pollution by at least 77 percent.
Although the rest of the state isn't under the same pressure to reduce ozone, the air pollution control division wants to cap emissions from oil and gas wells all over to avoid problems. It would be the first time the industry's emissions would be regulated outside the Front Range, although controls on the tanks wouldn't be as stringent.
Western Coloradans who spoke during hearings last month said they want regulations as tough as in eastern Colorado. Some of the speakers said residents in Garfield County, a center of natural gas development, are reporting more health problems as drilling has increased.
Ken Wonstolen, senior vice president and general counsel for Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Association trade group, said the statewide proposal for collection tanks would cut emissions by roughly two-thirds. He said the regulations for internal combustion engines and other oil and gas equipment would be the same.
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