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Boulder County to join amicus brief defending ECMC rules in Extraction Oil & Gas dispute
Summary
The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners voted to join other local governments in filing an amicus brief supporting the Energy and Carbon Management Commission’s application of rules enacted after SB 19-181 in a dispute with Extraction Oil & Gas over additional wells at the Coyote Trails pad.
Boulder County commissioners voted May 20 to join other local governments in an amicus brief supporting the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) in litigation with Extraction Oil & Gas over additional drilling at the Coyote Trails well pad.
Kate Burke with the Boulder County Attorney’s Office told commissioners the case concerns a 27-well pad at Coyote Trails, about 2.5 miles east of the county border, that was permitted in 2017 for a total of 45 wells. Extraction seeks permission now to drill 18 additional wells to reach the original 45; Burke said that after a pause in activity the passage of SB 19-181 led the ECMC to rewrite rules and to place new emphasis on “the protection of public health, safety, and welfare and the environment.”
Burke said ECMC determined Extraction needed to obtain a new overall site approval under the updated rules before expanding the pad. “So as a result of that bill then, ECMC rewrote almost its entire set of regulations in a number of rule makings and added significantly more scrutiny on any development near residential areas,” she said. Burke also noted that land-use patterns have changed since 2017 and that several of the proposed new wells “would actually drill into Boulder County” and that oil and gas emissions from Weld County can be carried into Boulder County.
Burke told the board that Boulder County’s interest is twofold: potential physical intrusion from wells drilled from the Erie pad into Boulder County, and cross-border air emissions. She said county attorneys believe they can help the court by explaining local land-use permitting experience and the legal principles at issue.
Burke said she is coordinating the drafting effort with Pat Gilbert of the Broomfield City and County Attorney’s Office and outside counsel Barbara Green for Erie; other local governments including Longmont, Lafayette and Frederick were considering joining. “I myself am working closely with Pat Gilbert in this Broomfield City and County Attorney's Office. So she's kinda taking the lead, but we're working hand in glove,” Burke said.
Commissioners voted to approve joining the amicus brief. The motion passed with the two commissioners present voting in favor; Commissioner Loachiman was excused.
