DENVER – Any attempt to give local governments more control over oil and gas drilling in Colorado must protect the rights of people who own underground mineral rights, Gov. John Hickenlooper said Friday.
Some people have owned or leased those rights for decades, long before Colorado’s growing cities spread onto land above rich oil and gas deposits, Hickenlooper said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“What right does government have to take that person’s lease away from them?” he said. “Through no fault of their own, the march of suburbanization, suddenly their lease is worth less than it was.”
Surface owners’ property rights should also be protected, Hickenlooper said, adding that energy companies are required to pay for damage. Noise, dust and other effects should also be taken into account, he said.
Hickenlooper spoke on the same day that his oil and gas task force submitted nine recommendations for easing tension created by the oil and gas industry in the state, often when wells are drilled near homes and schools.
The task force suggested giving local governments a consulting role in the location of large oil and gas facilities, such as wells and storage tanks, in urban areas. But proposals to give cities and counties the power to make their own rules didn’t get the necessary two-thirds vote to become a recommendation.
That brought criticism from many, including at least two people on the 21-member task force – co-chairwoman Gwen Lachelt and member Matt Sura.
Hickenlooper said the criticism was unfair and that the panel made good progress toward easing the state’s conflicts.
Hickenlooper said he would not tell the Legislature or regulators whether or not the recommendations should be enacted. But he said he supported them.
“I think all nine of them make a lot of sense,” he said.
