AURORA | The city’s advisory oil and gas committee is hitting a snag when it come its members, with some residents upset that the committee does not include people who live near fracking wells.
“Currently it’s made up of pro-fracking members,” said Nicole Johnston, a resident of Aurora’s Adonea subdivision near E-470 and Sixth Avenue Parkway where numerous well sites are being drilled by ConocoPhillips. Johnston has even organized a forum for the city’s at-large candidates in September because she said she wants residents to know where candidates stand on the issue, adding that she believes the city has not adequately addressed residents’ concerns about the hazards of nearby wells.
Right now, the 11-member committee is made up of three city staff, a Planning & Zoning Commission member, three private citizens, two surface owner representatives, and oil-and-gas operator representatives from ConocoPhillips and Carrizo Oil.
Anyone can attend a meeting even if they’re not on the committee, and city staff report between 15 and 20 people attend each bi-monthly meeting.
For months Aurora City Council has grappled with how to make the committee more balanced. In a June 29 study session, some council members said they took issue with a proposal that would shake up committee membership to include two appointees from the two neighborhoods most affected by drilling. Right now those neighborhoods are Adonea and Murphy Creek in east Aurora near Denver International Airport.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan was one of several council members who said the issue needed to go back to the city’s Planning and Economic Development Policy Committee because it was unclear how the neighborhood members would serve on the committee.
“How do you include people from the affected area? Today it’s Murphy Creek and Adonea. What if tomorrow they’re (oil and gas operators) interested in Tallyn’s Reach or High Point? What do you do?” he asked during the study session.
Councilman Brad Pierce, chair of the Planning and Economic Development Policy Committee, said the issue would come back to the committee in August. He said it made the most sense for neighborhood members to serve either two- or three-year terms, and then they could change based on where fracking is occurring in the city.
“Having someone serve an entire term would likely serve for the cycle of the well, from drilling to fracking to production,” he said.
Aurora has seven oil and gas wells operating in city limits, said Julie Patterson, a city spokeswoman. Five are owned by ConocoPhillips and two by Carrizo Oil. Patterson said there have been no permits issued for wells that have yet to be started, although future applications are likely to be made.