WCC and the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance are deeply disappointed with the Colorado Senate’s Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee‘s 6-5 vote along party lines against House Bill 1256 (HB17-1256).

This was a common-sense bill that would have fixed an oversight in setback rules that allow large-scale oil and gas facilities too close to playgrounds and athletic fields. The small change proposed would have given our school kids full protection under the 1,000 ft setback rule when they are both in and outside the school building.

A vote against this bill was a clear vote against the health and safety of Colorado school kids.

It is clear that operators will take, and already have taken, advantage of oversights and loopholes in the rules. We need new law to create clear and concise regulations that are consistently applied across the whole state. On behalf of concerned parents in Parachute and western Colorado, we will continue to work toward this goal and the full protection of our kids’ health and safety.

We thank Senator Kerry Donovan (D-5) for her support of this bill and look forward to having more conversations with our western Colorado legislators to solve this problem in the future.