Small Oil, Gas Activities Must Comply with Colorado Stormwater Permits

Oil and gas companies may have a new hurdle to clear this summer.

Thanks to a preliminary decision by the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, small oil and gas construction activities will have to comply with stormwater discharge permits by June 30.

The stormwater permits direct companies to stop sediment from running into the water supply, keeping large amounts of erosion from harming streams, polluting drinking water supplies and threatening fish populations.

The decision joins Colorado with states such as Wyoming and Montana, which also require a permit for oil and gas construction activities that disturb one to five acres.

Nationally, it is unclear if all oil and gas companies will be required to obtain the permit, and the Environmental Protection Agency has postponed the federal deadline on a decision until June 2006.

All other construction activities affecting one to five acres of land, except oil and gas, were required to implement stormwater controls in 1999.

Paul Frohardt, administrator of the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission, said the commission received substantial evidence arguing that oil and gas activities, such as the creation of drilling pads as well as the construction of access roads, have the potential to impact water quality.

The commission voted 6-2 in preliminary favor of requiring stormwater permits, but a final approval won’t be granted until the commission’s April meeting, Frohardt said.

Approval of the rule could be good news for the city of Grand Junction, where city officials have long been concerned about the effects of oil and gas drilling on water quality.

Source: The Daily Sentinel