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Residents urge Arapahoe County to reopen review of Sunlight Long fracking well pad over health and water concerns
Summary
Multiple residents asked the board to reopen and reevaluate the Sunlight Long fracking well pad application, citing new alternative‑location materials, proximity to schools and daycares, and public‑health research. One online caller said the revised alternative location analysis had not been reviewed by the county.
Several Arapahoe County residents told commissioners May 12 they want the county to reopen review of the Sunlight Long fracking well pad application and require a full alternative‑location analysis to protect public health and water resources.
Andrew Pinkowitz of Centennial urged the board to "reopen and reconsider the Sunlight Long Fracking well pad," saying the project is planned near elementary schools, daycares and retirement homes and that the application approved last April by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) had changed materially since an administrative approval in 2025. He said: "I implore this commission to act within its authority to reopen the sunlight long fracking well pad application and conduct a comprehensive and legitimate alternative location analysis to protect public health."
Nicole Shayne Ebler, who identified herself as a Denver resident, told the board the project poses cancer and other health risks to children living within a half mile of fracking pads and cited Senate Bill 181 as prioritizing protection of public safety, health and the environment. Ebler said the ECMC "will not listen" to health concerns and asserted conflicts of interest in the commission’s processes.
Martha Supajirawatangan (Aurora) listed nearby schools and childcare sites she said are within one mile of the proposed pad — Altitude Elementary, Woodlands Elementary, Happiness Academy and Little Things Nursery — and cited research by Dr. Lisa McKenzie (Colorado School of Public Health) linking proximity to oil and gas development with higher risks of congenital and respiratory conditions. She said "distance matters" and urged the county to require site alternatives farther from homes and schools.
An online caller, Shari Scalone (South Shore), who said she lives closest to the proposed location and is pregnant, told the board the Sunlight Long application was conditionally approved by the county in May 2025 but that the ECMM (ECMC) had since required a revised alternative location analysis that the county had not yet reviewed: "The Sunlight Long application was conditionally approved by the county in May 2025 and is no longer the same application before you today... That revised analysis has not been reviewed by the county." She asked the board to re‑evaluate the application with the new materials.
Several speakers tied their requests to protecting the Aurora Reservoir and warned that contamination risks — including a comment that "Just 2 gallons of benzene would poison the entire reservoir" — make thorough review essential. The board acknowledged the comments and encouraged those not heard to submit written comments to commissioners@arapahogov.com.
Context and next steps Speakers repeatedly asked the board to use any authority it has to require or request further review of the revised alternative location analysis submitted in response to ECMC requests. The transcript records the public comment and commissioners’ acknowledgement, but it does not show the board taking immediate formal action to reopen the application or placing a study item on a future agenda; county staff materials and the official project record will be required to determine whether the county will reopen review.
