Environment  September 14, 2017

Erie requires pipeline mapping

ERIE – Erie will act where the Colorado Legislature did not when it comes to requiring oil and gas companies to map the locations of pipelines.

Erie’s Board of Trustees approved an ordinance Tuesday that places the mapping requirement on energy companies. The Legislature voted along party lines during the 2017 session on a similar measure but was unable to pass it, according to a report in Colorado Hometown Newspaper, which circulates in Erie.

The measure will require operators to provide maps of existing and new flow lines and allows the town to file injunctions on operating wells if the energy company fails to provide the maps. The ordinance takes effect Oct. 31.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has said it does not know the locations of all the industry’s pipelines but leaves it up to local jurisdictions to decide where development can occur in proximity to pipelines.

Under the new regulations, “The map shall denote if the sub-surface facility is in use, abandoned, or shut-in; its age; its size and the maximum pressure at which it is operated; its depth from the surface; and the name of the Operator or Owner.”

Dan Haley, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, argued against the statewide legislation earlier this year because widespread mapping would be regulated by different agencies, creating a potential for conflict.

The Erie measure was prompted at least in part by the fatal Firestone blast earlier this year, which was caused by gas build up from an abandoned gas pipeline. Other communities are considering similar actions, including Lafayette which is drafting an ordinance now.

Lafayette and others are patterning their ordinances after an existing law in La Plata County.

Meanwhile, the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission posted general outlines of new rules that it will propose to regulate oil and gas flow lines and their decommissioning. A newspaper report on the proposed rules appeared in the Coloradoan.

ERIE – Erie will act where the Colorado Legislature did not when it comes to requiring oil and gas companies to map the locations of pipelines.

Erie’s Board of Trustees approved an ordinance Tuesday that places the mapping requirement on energy companies. The Legislature voted along party lines during the 2017 session on a similar measure but was unable to pass it, according to a report in Colorado Hometown Newspaper, which circulates in Erie.

The measure will require operators to provide maps of existing and new flow lines and allows…

Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts