Boulder County Commissioners unanimously reject lease offer

Amber Carlson, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·2 min read

Nov. 2—The Boulder County Commissioners have unanimously voted to turn down a lease offer from Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc., for county-owned mineral rights in eastern Boulder County at a public hearing.

The decision came Tuesday in response to a July 5 letter in which Extraction threatened to pursue forced pooling if the county did not agree to lease mineral rights for its Blue Paintbrush drilling project. Although the Blue Paintbrush area is located in Weld County, Boulder County owns a conservation easement on the land, and plans for the project include horizontal drilling under several square miles of Boulder County.

At an Aug. 25 hearing, the Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee unanimously voted to recommend that the County Commissioners reject Extraction's lease offer.

The public was invited to attend the County Commissioners' hearing Tuesday and provide feedback on the lease project, and almost all of the nearly 100 written responses received before the hearing were opposed to the lease offer, according to a news release.

"Leasing Boulder County open space oil and gas property rights ... would expose residents to toxic well gasses, increase ozone pollution and emit supercharged climate change gas," Commissioner Matt Jones said at the hearing. "Boulder County taxpayers voted seven times to protect open space for environmental protection, agriculture and trails, the opposite of oil and gas development."

Additionally, Jones added, the act of forced pooling — in which a county is forced to do business with oil companies — "violates both constitutional and statutory requirements."

"The Board of County Commissioners agrees with our residents that leasing Boulder County-owned minerals on county open space is not in the best interests of the county or its residents," Commissioner Marta Loachamin said at the hearing. "Substantial evidence makes it clear that development of oil and gas poses significant threats to public health and the environment, including air quality and wildlife resources."

Extraction had already applied for a forced pooling order from the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission as of July 7. The application is set for a hearing on Jan. 25.