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Carbondale, Basalt consider joining effort to get COGCC to prioritize public health

Activists are trying to get the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to prohibit drilling, unless companies can prove there’ll be no public health risk. On Tuesday night, both Carbondale and Basalt are considering formally supporting the effort.

The case is Martinez vs. COGCC, and it’s headed to the State Supreme Court. Since 2013, the group of young plaintiffs, many of them teenagers, have been trying to get state regulators to prioritize public health above all else, when it comes to issuing drilling permits to oil and gas companies.

 

Opponents claim this burdens the industry, which, they say, already gives public health ample consideration. Carbondale and Basalt are considering signing amicus briefs, essentially signaling their support for the plaintiffs.

 

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