A Neighborly Warning for Northwest Colorado
Friday, November 21, 2008
Craig, CO - Colorado is hearing about the good, the bad and the ugly of natural gas development - and most of the story seems to be bad. Residents of Pinedale, Wyoming visited Steamboat Springs and Craig this week to share their experiences of the gas drilling boom near their town. The federal government is currently updating its land management plan for northwest Colorado including the Vermilion Basin, and expanded energy development is expected to be included.
Pinedale town councilman David Smith says the industry has brought big changes to his hometown.
"The bottom line is, our air and our water are being very, very seriously impacted by this development."
Rita Donham agrees. As an aerial photographer in Wyoming, she has been documenting the changes around Pinedale since the gas extraction industry moved in.
"It's shocking from the air to fly over a landscape that you were used to being beautiful and open, and to see it change so rapidly."
Donham urges people to document the conditions in northwest Colorado now before things start to change. She says citizens should get to know the people working in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other government offices and to share thoughts, concerns and data with them.
"As an individual, you can collect your own data in your own backyard or on your ranch. Take inventory and work with them."
Earlier this year in Pinedale, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a very rare air quality warning for a rural area. The BLM says it is studying how similar development could affect air quality in northwest Colorado, but local residents are concerned it won't adequately address the potential increase in ozone levels.
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