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Aspen Public Radio news keeps you up to date with the latest information on the environment. From the debate over gas/oil drilling in the valley to water and wildlife - you will find our on-going commitment to those stories here.

Local organizers part of statewide oil and gas ballot initiatives

Marci Krivonen

Oil and gas organizers hope to put two oil and gas-related questions on the fall ballot. A handful of local activists are part of the effort, which is receiving more attention after a recent state supreme court decision.

 
One initiative would allow some local control over drilling proposals. The other would require a minimum amount of space between communities and wells and other infrastructure. Dave Devanney is leading a local effort to gather signatures. He’s with Battlement Mesa Concerned Citizens.

 

“We don’t have a lot of resources to offer, but every little bit helps,” said Devanney by phone on Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to try and support our friends over in Longmont and Fort Collins.”

 

Devanney believes the measures, if passed, probably wouldn’t have an immediate effect in the Parachute area. Drilling within 1,000 feet of homes in the Battlement Mesa development boundaries has already been approved by Garfield County commissioners. State regulators are still deciding how to rule on that proposal, which is by the company Ursa Resources.

Colorado’s highest court decided this week that a ban on fracking in two Front Range communities isn’t valid or enforceable.

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