Consider the down side of oil and gas development
Jobs will be created, tax revenue will increase. Don’t worry, be happy! That is the sales pitch we hear every time potential drilling is talked about.
Is there anything else we should consider, such as air quality, water usage, road damage, noise, health, and home values?
As for jobs, it is very difficult to find validation on the number of jobs created for oil and gas extraction (O&G). What’s apparent are the numbers promised by the industry are never met. So take that projected jobs with a grain of salt. How about tax revenue? Loveland just created a commission to study what to do with the money from future producing wells by Centerra. This commission should look very carefully at any projected income. Two important facts to consider, the rate of production from each well and the volatility of the oil and gas industry. Well production drops significantly in the first years of production. (See video https://www.coursera.org/lecture/ oilandgas/production-overtime-jqdfl). And we all know how unpredictable events drive oil and gas prices.
The impact to the other issues are well documented. According to the EPA, the Front Range designation has recently been downgraded from “serious” to “severe” and is seriously out of compliance for ozone. New O&G wells will not help fix that critical problem, only exacerbate it. Water is another issue; we are in a drought and a well will destroy approximately 2 million gallons of quality water each time it is fracked. On the health front, many scientific articles are now available that highlight the health impacts of O&G. See https://www.ehn.org/ health-impacts-of-fracking2634432607.html.
Our Community Values is hosting a Zoom forum on the impacts of O&G by retired industr y professionals at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28. Use the following link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ tzyvcoiopj0ve9lzopoelhe 4C2W2EMOUGNQ3. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Bob Massaro
Loveland