Environmental Injustice in the Making Near Colorado Middle School

Greeley, Colorado. Photo by Catherine Collentine.

By Eric Huber, Managing Attorney and Stephanie Hsiung, Research Analyst

Two weeks ago, the Sierra Club submitted multiple technical comments to the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on behalf of itself and eleven local environmental and civil rights groups opposing a proposed oil and gas project that would put 24 wells, 18 oil tanks, and other associated facilities a mere 1,350 feet away from the walls of Bella Romero Academy, a public middle school in Greeley, Colorado. Environmental and demographic indicators of the area served by Bella Romero show that it is a burdened and high risk environmental justice community.

Siting a large oil and gas operation so close to any school is unacceptable, but it is even more so in this case. Bella Romero’s student population is 89% Hispanic or Latino and 3% African American, and 92% come from low income households.[1] In comparison, the City of Greeley is 77% white and 17% Hispanic or Latino, and 15% of residents live in poverty.[2] The EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool places the surrounding community within the 70-90^th percentile range nationally for measures including minority population, low income, linguistic isolation, ozone levels, cancer risk, and respiratory hazard.

Greeley is a small city about 50 miles northeast of Denver that is experiencing incredible fracking operations both within and just outside its limits. It sits in the middle of Weld County, where there are currently almost 23,000 active oil and gas wells and where the above photo is no longer an uncommon sight. State regulations established by the COGCC require oil and gas facilities to be located at least 500 feet away from homes and 1,000 feet away from schools (although sometimes the COGCC grants exceptions for siting them closer). But these COGCC “setbacks” are insufficient. Numerous authoritative studies have concluded setbacks of at least one-half mile or one-mile are necessary to public health.

Nevertheless, Extraction Oil & Gas, LLC, is proposing to site these operations just beyond the minimum 500-foot and 1,000-foot setbacks for homes and schools. Twenty-four wells will be fracked only 509 feet away from a home and 1,360 feet from Bella Romero Academy. Eighteen oil tanks, twenty-four separators, and four vapor recovery units will be constructed 771 feet away from a home and 1,364 feet from Bella Romero. Worse yet, Bella Romero’s playground and athletic fields sit in between the school and the proposed development, placing students less than 1,000 feet away from oil and gas facilities when they are engaged in play or recreation.

Submission of well pad location map by Extraction Oil & Gas to COGCC (modified with Bella Romero Academy label)

Submission of production facilities location map by Extraction Oil & Gas to COGCC (modified with Bella Romero Academy label)

In the Sierra Club’s comments, we pointed out the COGCC regulations require operators to place oil and gas production facilities “as far as possible” from homes, schools, and other occupied buildings. However, Extraction Oil & Gas provided no justification for its chosen site and identified no analysis of alternative sites farther from Bella Romero. Regardless, it seems the COGCC is poised to rubberstamp the project following the Weld County Commissioners’ approval of a special use permit last week.

There are already older oil and gas facilities with eight wells located approximately 800 feet from the entrance to Bella Romero. Extraction O&G’s proposed project will further burden the vulnerable students of this community and the surrounding area. Earlier this year, an oil and gas executive for a Pennsylvania operator commented that it avoids siting wells near big houses where residents might have the financial resources to challenge industrial developments.[3] While we hope this is not the case here, it would be difficult to dispute that most of the parents of Bella Romero students lack the resources to object to this major oil and gas development and wonder whether this site would be chosen if it were near an upscale subdivision.

The COGCC’s mission is “to foster the responsible development of Colorado’s oil and gas natural resources.”[4] The proposal put forth by Extraction Oil & Gas is a prime example of irresponsible development and the COGCC has a duty to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the environmental justice community put at risk by this project.