Council will also pick up decisions on new development rules and planning commissions
This article by Anthony Hahn appeared in the Daily Camera, June 21st, 2018.
Lafayette’s City Council is scheduled to vote at its July 3 meeting on the proposed oil and gas regulations that were derailed Tuesday night by an anti-fracking protest, city spokeswoman Debbie Wilmot said.
Leaders also are expected to vote on other agenda items that were suspended after council members were forced to adjourn their Tuesday meeting early when dozens of residents and activists interrupted attorney Jeffrey Robbins’ presentation on the proposed drilling rules.
“We are the people of Lafayette, Colorado,” they shouted, spurring council members to adjourn the meeting and promptly leave the building. “We are the people of Boulder County. We will not be silenced. No drills! No pipelines!”
Some of the requirements included in the proposed regulations include a mapping of flow lines throughout the city, setback requirements, community engagement and ground and air mitigation. The new drilling rules are fashioned almost identically to those administered by Boulder County.
Some of the proposal’s other focuses detail mapping requirements that include existing well sites, mineral interests, producing, closed, abandoned and shut-in wells, and any other oil and gas operations within one mile of the site; hazards, floodplains and potential traffic impacts, among others.
Those opposed to the regulation overhaul have long maintained that they would directly conflict with the city’s Climate Bill, which many argue already serves as an effective ban on drilling in Lafayette.
Ahead of the council takeover, children pressed signs against the council chamber’s back glass reading “no drilling, no pipelines,” and a slew of residents filled the lobby in a last ditch effort to persuade leaders to vote against the new rules. MORE…