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Community Open House
and
Combined Board Meeting
Board of Environmental Affairs
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
City of Longmont Water Board
Monday, February 6, 2012
The City of Longmont is in the process of updating regulations related to oil and gas development. City staff was on hand to discuss and request public input regarding the update process at an open house in early February. A meeting followed the Open House with the City of Longmont's Board of Environmental Affairs, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and Water Board. To view a copy of the information from that meeting or the video of the meeting, please see the links below. For more information, contact Brien Schumacher at brien.schumacher@ci.longmont.co.us or 303-651-8764.View copy of meeting packet (2.15MB)
Combined Board Meeting - View Video
(Note: The video run time is approximately 3 hours, not 5 hours 54 minutes as indicated. Thank you.)
From City Council 11/15/11, 12/20/11 and the Special Oil and Gas Presentation meeting held on 12/7/11
Council Communiction - Additional Information on Oil and Gas Development and Operations - December 20, 2011
http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/city_council/agendas/2011/documents/122011_11B.pdf
The following link is to information staff received from research of public records by residents living along the west side of Union Reservoir. They have included a cover letter along with a series of correspondence regarding contamination in the vicinity of the Rider Family Trust well which is located on private property north of Trail Ridge Middle School. The information includes an enforcement action taken by the COGCC against TOP operating dated September 17, 2008 requiring remediation of the contamination. It appears that the site remediation is not yet completed based upon the most recent reports on file with the COGCC.
Additional Public Information on Oil & Gas
Council will recall that the City closed on the Bogott and Sherwood properties at the end of 2010. As part of the City’s diligence to acquire the properties, Terracon Consultants was hired to conduct a limited site investigation as part of the overall phase 1 environmental audit which the City routinely completes with each property acquisition. The site investigation consisted of drilling 13 soil borings along with soil and water sampling and testing in the vicinity of each of the existing oil and gas wells on both properties. The investigation identified two well borings where the levels of gasoline and diesel fuels exceeded the COGCC soil standards, and one test boring well on the Sherwood property where the levels of benzene was reported at .55 mg/kg in a soil sample, which exceeds the COGCC standard of .17 mg/kg. Benzene was also reported in a ground water sample from the same test hole at 110 micrograms/liter, which is above the COGCC regulatory standard of 5 micrograms/liter. Staff is working with the operator, the COGCC to remediate the contamination. Staff is also conferring with Terracon to conduct similar site investigations at all oil and gas wells on City property.
Bogott and Sherwood properties site assessment
Slides of Water Use Estimates - Phil Doe & Weston Wilson
A special public presentation on the oil and gas industry's impact to the Longmont community was held on Wednesday, December 7, in the City Council Chambers. The presentataion was very similar to the information presented to the City Council on November 15 (see below). Unlike the Council meeting, the public did not have an opportunity to speak at this presentation but there was an opportunity to submit written comments to be shared with City Council members.
Video of the Special Oil and Gas Presentation from December 7, 2011
The City of Longmont is located on the western edge of the Greater Wattenberg Field (pdf map 1) (GWF), where there continues to be an increasing interest in development of new oil and gas wells. At the present time, over 24,000 wells sites currently exist.
The City of Longmont owns various parcels (pdf map 2) of land in Weld County where oil and gas leases (pdf map 3) existed on the property prior to the property acquisition by the City. The City has not entered into any new oil and gas leases on City owned property following the acquisition of any of the properties. In addition, there are a total of 10 existing oil and gas wells on City owned property that existed at the time the City acquired the property.
The City has been contacted by oil and gas developers about the potential of drilling wells on the City owned property where the developers either own the mineral interests or they have an existing oil and gas lease that preceded the City acquiring the property.
In Colorado, oil and gas wells are permitted and regulated by the State of Colorado through the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), which is a division of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
At the November 15, 2011 City Council meeting, general information was presented to help educate City Council and the community on the issue of oil and gas exploration primarily as it relates to City owned property in Weld County. Presentations were made by staff, as well as representatives from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, and Longmont's special legal counsel on oil and gas issues.
The presentations were informational and educational only, and no action was taken or decisions made at that meeting. It is anticipated that this issue will return to City Council at a future date.
The following links will provide the information presented at the meeting and a video of the November 15, 2011 City Council Meeting.
November 15, 2011 City Council Meeting Video Archive - http://65.49.32.143/psportal/public/longmontcouncil/webcast.aspx
Council Communication - General Information on Oil and Gas Development and Operations – November 15, 2011 http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/city_council/agendas/2011/documents/111511_5B.pdf
The movie below contains all three powerpoint presentations together without requiring you to download the files above. Please note, the movie does not contain audio.
