Story Created:
Jan 27, 2012 at 5:44 AM MST
Story Updated:
Jan 27, 2012 at 9:36 PM MST
Delta - In order to continue their ongoing fight against the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed 30,000 acre oil and gas lease sale in the North Fork Valley, Citizens for a Healthy Community has set up a public hearing for neighbors from all over to voice their feelings on the matter.
“The North Fork Valley is one of the gems of Western Colorado,” said Robyn Morrison, board member of the Citizens for a Healthy Community. “It’s a rural area, it’s at the base of the mountains, it’s an agriculture community, it’s a coal mining community. People depend on clean water and clean air for their livelihood, and the current practices for oil and gas development just are not compatible with what we have.”
Due to the size and scope of the potential lease, the organization believes the public should have the right to express their concerns at a hearing.
“The majority of the citizens that we talked to really think this is a bad idea, and until gas industries could do this sort of development responsibly, we’re not interested in having it in our community,” said Morrison.
Citizens for a Healthy Community has collaborated with their partners in the past and have held public meetings on the sale, where more than 1,000 citizens have attended.
“We’ve been working on this since the BLM announced the plan to lease these parcels on December 7th. So far the last six weeks, we’ve been working pretty diligently to get the public educated, get people to say public comments, and working on this public hearing,” said Morrison.
The group is hoping to record the public comments and submit them to the Bureau of Land Management.
The hearing is on Saturday at 1:00 PM at Hotchkiss High School. For more information,
click here.
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Floyd said on Sunday, Jan 29 at 8:55 AM
chump, I said nothing about asthma, read my post, I said it causes lung problems in people who have lung problems. Higher concentrations of ozone occur in the cold months because ozone condences in cold weather, it is a cold gas. Ozone condences here in the grand valley in inversions, maybe you have never heard of an inversion. Wyoming gets a whole lot colder than it gets here. Thats why the ozone shows up more in areas that are built up by people, I'm sure there are more contributing factors than just the oil and gas wells.
stella from the NFV said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 10:52 AM
Dear Drill Baby Drill. Just in the last year, the US has started to export more energy resources than it imports. So I should give up my right to clean water and clean air so that we can ship our energy off-shore? I'm a red-blooded american! If I'm being asked to sacrifice my family's health, clean water and possibly their livelihood (we're farmers that use that clean water to grow your food)energy, it better dang well stay in this country....but unfortunately it's not
chumpchange said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 10:48 AM
So Floyd, are you saying that all the medical research out there that points to ground level ozone as a contributing factor to respiratory ailments such as asthma is B.S.? Why does the medical establishment agree that ozone can damage the respiratory system? Can you give me the name of a respiratory doctor who believes that high levels of ground level ozone is safe to breath because I'd like to speak with them to know what facts underpins their believe. I'm open to changing my mind on ground level ozone if the science world is able to produce data and facts to back up what you're saying about ozone. You say the EPA has demonized ozone, but there is widespread acceptance (based on science) that ground-level ozone is unhealthy. So if you can produce a legitimate source saying otherwise, I"m all ears.
Floyd said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 8:27 AM
Ozone at the upper end of the atmosphere protects us from the deadly infrared rays of the sun. At lower levels it causes lung problems, in people who have lung problems, at high concentrations. Ozone is in the ground as well as the air, cold temps bring it out, and when the temperature gets down to minus 193 degrees there is the problem of explosion. That temp is in celcius. The most we see from ozone in the lower atmosphere is known as rust on metals. Ozone dissapates rapidly as the temp. rises in the lower atmosphere. ITs greatest use by humans is that of a scare factor by certain government groups, mainly the EPA.
Drill baby Drill said on Saturday, Jan 28 at 12:24 AM
I for one believe we need to stop being so dependent on other countries for oil and gas when we have plenty of it here in this great country. Lets drill lets ration our resources lets start rebuilding this country!!!!
North Fork Valley Resident said on Friday, Jan 27 at 11:32 PM
Dear voting taxpayer. Please give one example of Obama putting the kabosh on coal? The North Fork Valley has three coal mines and the only reason they are not mining at 100% capacity these days is because the demand for coal dropped during the recession. It has NOTHING to do with regulations that people whine about all the time. We are doing our part in the NFV to supply the country with energy since we ship an exceptional amount of coal out of our valley to fire power plants in the east. Oh and the coals mines in our valley did away with unions long ago. Guess the owners thought they could line their pockets even more by paying their workers less than union workers. And ask the people in Pinedale, Wyoming (population 6000-ish) about their clean air now that the Jonah gas field is in full swing. They had at least six days last winter when recorded ozone levels as bad as the the worst smog days in LA. Please tell me how that is responsible?
Floyd said on Friday, Jan 27 at 7:37 AM
The EPA has as of yet to bring a proven energy source that is affordable for the American people. Everything they have brought about is more subsidized than what the oil companys are. Subsidized=taxpayer money, more subsidy, more taxes, plus we would have to pay for the results at a rate that is far above the price of O&G products. Do the math, we can't afford the EPA ideas nor do we need to hear their scare tactics all the time.
voting taxpayer said on Friday, Jan 27 at 7:15 AM
There you folks go AGIAN.You can't have it both ways.Your president is taking coal away.Ask any UMW who voted for Obama.Now you fall into the trap clean air and water.It's a givin,we all want that.THINK Oil companies are responsible and getting better.Uneducated scare paraniod people are making it real exspensive.Your next trap,without coal natural gas is solar.Windmills and panels don;t go away.Ten years to payoff.Now you have exspensive bad service for ten years.Which means we don't grow or exspand.Our population will grow.Things change we are living in the future right now.Cot EPA NEA not military
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