Managing Energy Development in Mesa County
The energy industry is booming in Mesa County. Jobs are plentiful, unemployment is at an all time low and wages are at an all time high.
While the rest of the nation is experiencing serious economic challenges, we in Mesa County are blessed with a prosperous economy, which is a result of, at least in large part, energy development.
We are also blessed with an exceptional natural environment in Mesa County that is home to many recreational and agricultural activities.
Some may see these two blessings as being in conflict. I believe that energy development and good stewardship are not mutually exclusive. We cannot and should not sacrifice one for the other.
Energy development can cause impacts such as traffic, housing shortages, growth in our schools, and environmental concerns. And the cornerstone of our efforts to manage those impacts in Mesa County is our Energy Master Plan. The goal of this Plan is to identify potential impacts from energy development and develop sound and thoughtful policies to mitigate those impacts.
As far as we can tell Mesa County is the first county in the nation to develop such a Plan. This is an ambitious plan and requires several phases.
In Phase I we identified sensitive areas (scenic byways, watersheds, wildlife habitat, sensitive landscapes, etc) which were then mapped on our website using GIS Technology that allows users to look at a particular parcel of land and identify, in advance, the sensitive areas as well as best management practices for mitigating those impacts.
Phase II- will develop an inventory of all energy resources in Mesa County, to include uranium, coal, oil, natural gas and renewables. This phase should be complete by the end of 2008.
Phase III- will include a policy analysis to develop recommendations for County policies. This phase will include a process for significant public participation and should be completed no later than September 2009, possibly sooner.
In addition to these core phases, Mesa
County has recently adopted policies related to areas of immediate concern. Those include construction standards for evaporative ponds, new zoning to allow for temporary storage of energy related materials, and regulations for temporary housing for employees that are on site 24/7 during the drilling process.
As these policies are developed it is important to understand the areas over which the county has authority for regulation. The county has land use authority, which covers most activities above the ground. The State and Federal governments have authority over the actual extraction process, which covers most activities below the ground.
The Energy Master Plan allows for thoughtful planning. For example, it will enable us to identify pipeline corridors so that all energy companies can uset the same corridor, instead of a hodge podge, spaghetti-like distribution of varoius pipelines.
Another area tahtour Energy Master Plan will cover is watershed. This issue has been brought up multiple times in this campaign and unfortunately, many of the facts have been twisted.
Mesa County has been criticized for not protesting the leasing of mineral rights in the watersheds of Palisade and Grand Junction in 2006. Issues like these can often become emotional and our board decided to not get caught up in the emotion, but rather to focus on our legitimate role, which is participating in the BLM process when and if an Application to Permit Drilling (APD) is filed.
When I first heard of drilling in the watershed, I too was concerned. So I made a point to educate myself about the process. I learned that drilling in watersheds is not uncommon and that, in fact, there has been drilling in Ute Water’s Watershed for 30 years. Technology is constantly improving and drilling can occur safely.
Should an APD be filed on these current leases, (not all leases result in actual development), Mesa County, along with other stakeholders, would participate in the BLM’s thorough review process, to include an on-site inspection of the proposed location to discuss the design and location of facilities and plans to mitigate potential impacts.
The BLM process also involves an extensive environmental analysis and multiple opportunities for public input.
Clearly Mesa
County has been, and continues to be, very pro-active in addressing energy impacts. But we are in the middle of an election year, so we can expect the facts to be distorted.
As your County Commissioner I will continue to work to ensure that energy development is managed in a way that protects both our economy and our natural resources.