Proposition 112 is safer choice
You and I are lucky to live in city neighborhoods that are unlikely to have fracking wells go up nearby. Our neighbors to the north are not so lucky.
When a well goes in next door, they lose property value, noise levels — at night even — break allowed levels for industrial areas, they suffer nosebleeds, odd smells, and — since Firestone — the fear that their house could be next.
Proposition 112 is the result of the oil and gas industry being careless with our lives and health and government and elected officials failing to protect citizens. Can you imagine losing your health and safety and property value because a fracking well has gone in next to your house? I can.
This is why I support Proposition 112 and will be voting yes.
What you seem to miss is that we’ve had years to get more responsible setbacks and safety measures in place, and have failed at every step.
The oil and gas companies simply have too much power in the state. They are arrogant and know our weak setback rules are in their favor.
I don’t see any hope that is going to change without a horrific accident happening. I wish you could feel the helplessness people feel when faced with 20 well pads popping up around them.
We are experiments to see how much toxic brew we can absorb. Enough is enough.
It is more than sad that The Denver Post has been fooled by the oil and gas industry scare tactics on Proposition 112 — safe setbacks for fracking operations.
There is no way that Prop 112 can be a ban on oil and gas development when Colorado already has over 50,000 wells and these will be unaffected. Moreover, the lateral lines used in fracking can go many thousands of feet, so a 2,500 foot setback is in no way a “ban” on the industry.
It is also more than sad that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Safety seems determined to protect the oil and gas industry over the public health. It is undisputed that fracking often leads to elevated concentrations of benzene in the air. Benzene is a known human carcinogen.
Vote “Yes on Prop 112” for safer setbacks for fracking. Keep oil and gas jobs, but provide safer separation between the jobs and our families, neighborhoods and sensitive environments. Send letters of 250 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 5990 Washington St., Denver, CO, 80216. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact information is for our purposes only; we will not share it with anyone else. You can reach us by telephone at 3039541201.