By CEN Western Slope Reporters

RULISON - Citizens near the Project Rulison nuclear blast site in Garfield County have been seeking a hearing for nearly a year to discuss applications for permits to drill (APDs) within three miles of the blast site. To date, both the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and Garfield County commissioners have not acted on their request.

As a result,  landowners in the area filed a lawsuit against state oil and gas regulators to “establish the rights of interested persons” to receive a hearing over the approval of drilling permit applications. The lawsuit names the COGCC, its acting director, Dave Neslin, and EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) as defendants.

Court record shows the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Western Colorado Congress, the Grand Valley
Citizens Alliance and Rulison residents Ruth and Cary Weldon, Marcia and Wesley Kent. The plaintiffs contend that Neslin and the COGCC have repeatedly denied their petitions for hearings over the approval of drilling permit applications near the Rulison blast site in “violation of state law.”

The lawsuit says the state Oil and Gas Conservation Act provides an avenue for residents to apply for a hearing before the commission, and that “any interested person” to petition the COGCC on “any matter” and requires the COGCC to hold a hearing on the issue.

The issue started way back in 1969 when the government detonated a 43-kiloton nuclear weapon more than 8,400 feet below the ground and residents who live near the blast site argue that using fracturing technologies involved with natural gas extraction increases the risk that radioactive contaminants from the site may migrate to the surface.

“The quantity, nature and extent of the contamination produced by the Rulison explosion have never been determined,” the plaintiffs’ court action said.

The state commission currently requires a hearing for any gas
wells proposed to be drilled within a half-mile of the site and
Garfield County has the same position of requiring approval for
APDs. That is also the position of Garfield County, which can
request a hearing over the approval of APDs. In addition, the
Department of Energy currently prohibits drilling deeper than
6,000 feet in a 40-acre area around the site.

The lawsuit was filed a month after the COGCC Neslin approved
five EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) drilling permits within three miles
of the blast site.

Back in September residents and groups filed a protest and
objection to the approval of the drilling permit
applications.In response, Neslin referred to an earlier agency
letter that stated a COGCC rule only allows local governments
to request a hearing over the approval of drilling permit
applications, according to court records.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs want a court
declaration saying that the rule is “contrary to state law” and
an order prohibiting the COGCC from enforcing it. They are also
seeking an order “compelling” the COGCC to hold a hearing over
the disputed EnCana permits.

EnCana Oil and Gas (USA) has not commented specifically on the
lawsuit, although spokesman, Doug Hock, did say the company
doesn’t believe there is a problem with drilling in the Project
Rulison area. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have requested those
APDs. We believe the drilling can be conducted safely and
responsibly.”

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the Colorado Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission finalizing a new rules package
governing drilling in the state that are expected to take
effect in April and May, pending legislative review.