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Release Date: November 21, 2008
Western Wyoming residents warn Coloradans breakneck energy development could radically impact quality of life Think of it: Air so polluted it's worse than the foul smog in Beijing. 48% fewer mule deer, sage grouse on the brink of extinction and antelope herds thinned by 30 or more head from road killing. Schools that must double or triple in size within three years, region-wide groundwater pollution, near-epidemic spikes in drug use and hospital services. These challenges are now facing residents in western Wyoming, and they could be on the way to the Yampa Valley if more than 3,000 oil and natural gas wells are drilled in Moffat County and surrounding areas. The Little Snake Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management recently released a study now out for public comment that shows how regional energy development could impact air quality throughout northwest Colorado. Western Wyoming residents, including Pinedale Town Councilman David Smith, visited Craig and Steamboat Springs Wednesday and Thursday to tell how similar fast-paced energy development in the Upper Green River Valley has radically changed their lives and how they're dealing with declining air quality that is quickly becoming dire. The two gatherings attracted more than 50 Moffat and Routt county residents, including members of city and county governments and local business communities. Smith discussed what Moffat and Routt counties will experience if we don't plan ahead and insist on slowing energy development to a pace that our communities, wildlife and environment can reasonably handle. Rita and Jamie Donham, Steamboat Springs and Cora, Wyo., landowners and owners and operators of Wyoming Aero Photography spoke about the importance of documentation in communities where development is planned. Craig resident Sasha Nelson of the Colorado Environmental Coalition presented a slide show provided by Jeremy Nichols Climate and Energy Program Director WildEarth Guardians that provided an overview of the links between degraded air quality and oil and gas production. The situation in western Wyoming is the result of an explosion of oil and gas development that occurred within a half-dozen years of the release of a BLM land management plan that opened federal lands in the area to drilling. The Little Snake Field Office has been working on a plan that looks very similar to the one that is dramatically impacting western Wyoming. 1100 wells currently operate in that part of Wyoming. The Little Snake plan predicts up to 3500 wells for Moffat and Routt counties or a 3-fold increase. Smith and the Donhams both warn that Moffat and Routt county communities could be damaged beyond recognition if the Little Snake plan is put in place without better information on baseline data, stricter rules for mitigation of impacts and strongest possible provisions to keep development slow. Development alone was not the problem in Wyoming, according to the speakers. The root of the problem has been the combination of poorly planned, rapid development and too little data for the days before development. Smith acknowledged that the money brought into his community from development has benefited them, and suggested that our communities ask for as much funding as we want from developers because they can be very generous. He said he wishes that the money would have come-in at a slower rate and believes that Wyoming communities should have asked for much more as the money they have received does not begin to make-up for the impacts. For more information, call Sasha Nelson at (970) 824-5241/(970)-819-3847 or log onto www.savevermillion.org |
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