Letter to County Commissioners - May 29

May 29, 2012 --- via email and postal mail

Board of County Commissioners of Huerfano County
401 Main St.
Walsenburg, Colorado 81089

Dear Commissioners Bobian, Cain and King,

As you know, Shell has filed four applications for permit to drill (APDs) for oil along the La Veta syncline in the Gardner area. You are also aware of our recent requests to County Administrator John Galusha, in his capacity as Local Government Designee:

1. for public notice, in the local newspapers and to an email list set up for this purpose, as soon as he is notified by the COGCC of all APDs in Huerfano County

2. for him to hold a public meeting on new APDs, early in the public comment period, to gather public concerns to be communicated by the LGD to the COGCC

3. for him to ask the COGCC for a 10-day extension to the public comment period on these new Shell APDs, currently set to expire June 7, 2012.

In response to our requests, Mr. Galusha said that he consulted with the COGCC’s acting director, Thom Kerr, and was instructed to deny these requests, and that, at the May 23, 2012 BOCC meeting, you all concurred with Mr. Kerr’s recommendation. However, we also understand that Mr. Kerr’s boss, Mike King -- executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and head of Governor Hickenlooper’s recent oil and gas regulation task force --  says that “The LGD is the person who takes the requests, concerns and comments of local citizens to the attention of the COGCC. They answer to their local government board or commission, so the position is not merely a figurehead,” says King. “The LGD is the key to a robust process for us.”  (source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/exceptual_loewy/coloradoenergynews-cache/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mike-king-interview.pdf  )

We write to you, as our elected commissioners, asking that you direct Mr. Galusha to fulfill his duties as Local Government Designee, including the above three requests, and that you also direct him to: 

4.  ask the COGCC for a CDPHE consultation on the Fortune well site, which is upstream less than five miles from the Gardner community water wells.

We would appreciate your action as soon as possible, and a written response to this request.

Thank you for your consideration,

Board of Directors
Citizens for Huerfano County
P.O. Box 1193
La Veta, CO 81055-1193

cc: Mike King, Thom Kerr, Lt. Gov Joe Garcia, Huerfano World Journal, La Veta Signature