DENVER – Coloradans should rest secure in knowing their state is tougher on air pollution from the gas-and-oil industry than any other American state, Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday.
Hickenlooper touted rules adopted Sunday by the Air Quality Control Commission, a citizen board that he appoints.
They feature the country’s strictest standards for gas-and-oil companies to detect and repair leaks, and they make Colorado the first state to clamp down on emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas.
“A big part of this is so that Coloradans can know we’re going to have the cleanest air rules in the country,” Hickenlooper said.
Hickenlooper proposed the rules last year after striking an agreement with three energy companies and the Environmental Defense Fund. His air-quality commission made few changes during five days of hearings last week, said Larry Wolk, director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“I think the commission erred on the side of protecting public health and the environment,” Wolk said.
Christi Zeller, head of the La Plata Energy Council, testified against the rules last week and predicted they will hurt the area’s gas industry.
Companies that backed the rules have multiple wells on tightly clustered pads, and they often produce oil, which is much more profitable than gas, Zeller said.
“Our wells are remote and not easy to get to,” Zeller said. “Cost benefits are very, very different down here. We didn’t budge that conversation at all.”
The rules target pollution of volatile organic compounds, which form ozone and can be dangerous to people with asthma and lung problems, Wolk said.
Several environmental groups backed Hickenlooper at Tuesday’s news conference celebrating the new rules. The governor has gotten crosswise with environmentalists in the past over his promotion of natural gas.
Still, Hickenlooper does not think the rules will placate some of the energy industry’s biggest critics, including people backing ballot initiatives to allow local governments to ban hydraulic fracturing.
“Today’s not going to satisfy people who are against all hydrocarbons,” Hickenlooper said. “We’re a long way from a totally green economy.”
jhanel@durangoherald.com
On the Net
Full air-quality rules: http://1.usa.gov/MFIrTb
