What's New
On
May 14, 2007, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission held a
hearing on a rule it passed unanimously last year, requiring the oil
and gas industry to get stormwater permits for construction activities
on oil and gas sites. The Commission could have decided to reconsider,
and then reverse, the January 2006 rule. Instead, after a successful
campaign by Environment Colorado, local governments and water
districts, the oil and gas industry backed off its requests to alter
the rule and the Commission upheld the 2006 rule.
Brief Summary
The
Clean Water Act requires all construction sites over one acre in size
to have stormwater permits and prevent sediment disturbed by
construction from flowing into rivers and streams during storm events.
This sediment often carries with it chemicals from the construction
site that can adversely affect aquatic life, irrigation, and drinking
water supplies.
In fact, the EPA says that sediment runoff during snowmelt and storms
is the biggest cause of impaired water quality in rivers. Further,
runoff rates from construction sites are exponentially higher than from
other activities. Despite this, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Bush
administration exempted oil and gas operators from this requirement.
In January 2006, after a huge coalition of local governments, farmers,
water districts, elected officials, and conservation groups presented
compelling evidence, the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission
decided to be stricter than the federal government and require
stormwater permits for construction activities on oil and gas sites in
Colorado. The Commission decided to be more stringent than the federal
government because it found, based on sound scientific and technical
evidence, that the more stringent rule is needed to protect the
environment and our waters.
As part of its decision, the Commission set a hearing to review the
implementation of this rule for May 2007. Through a stakeholder process
in advance of this hearing, the oil and gas industry requested numerous
waivers and exemptions from the rule, which, if granted, would have
gutted the rule. The coalition remobilized to fight the industry on
these requests, submitting evidence that the requests were not backed
by sound science or policy and organizing support for continued
protection of Colorado’s rivers and streams.
This
campaign was so successful that the industry reversed its position on
its requests a few weeks before the Commission hearing. On May 14,
2007, the Commission declined to take any action that would challenge
its 2006 rule, thereby continuing protection of Colorado’s waters from
pollution from construction on oil and gas sites for at least 5 more
years.
