{"id":64302,"date":"2019-05-09T17:30:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T23:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/catamount-energy-offers-5000-to-ignacio-area-residents-to-waive-county-well-regulations\/"},"modified":"2019-05-09T23:30:43","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T23:30:43","slug":"catamount-energy-offers-5000-to-ignacio-area-residents-to-waive-county-well-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/catamount-energy-offers-5000-to-ignacio-area-residents-to-waive-county-well-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"Catamount Energy offers $5,000 to Ignacio-area residents to waive county well regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Catamount
Catamount Energy has offered residents $5,000 to forgo their protections under La Plata County\u2019s oil and gas regulations.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Denver-based energy company is offering a handful of Ignacio-area residents $5,000 to forgo their protections under La Plata County\u2019s oil and gas regulations as the company seeks to drill a new injection well.<\/p>\n

The proposed deal has residents around the would-be injection well site split between those who want to take the money and allow the company full access, and those who fear their voices will be silenced with concerns about water and traffic.<\/p>\n

Rusty Kelly, senior vice president for Catamount Energy Partners LLC, did not return multiple emails and phone calls this week and last week seeking comment for this story.<\/p>\n

A copy of a letter, obtained by The Durango Herald<\/em>, asks residents to sign a waiver that \u201cwaives the benefits of La Plata County Oil and Gas Regulations and any objections he may have in connection with the proposed injection well\u201d in exchange for a payment of $5,000.<\/p>\n

An injection well sends produced water, a term used in the oil and gas industry that refers to the water brought to the surface during oil and gas drilling operations to allow gas to release from coal seams. The chemical makeup of produced water varies depending on its location. It has been known to contain high levels of brine and salt, as well as hydrocarbons, such as methane and benzene that can lead to negative environmental and health impacts.<\/p>\n

It appears the waiver was sent to at least seven property owners within a 1,300-foot radius of the proposed injection well site at 5301 County Road 334, about 7 miles northeast of Ignacio.<\/p>\n

Courtney Roseberry, La Plata County\u2019s natural resource planner, said Catamount Energy has not approached county staff with any plans for an injection well, so she was not familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n

Under La Plata County oil and gas regulations, companies are allowed to ask residents to forgo their protections by signing a waiver. However, in most circumstances, Roseberry said companies seek to break the county\u2019s 500-foot setback rule, not the entire set of county regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen one worded like that before,\u201d said Roseberry, who has been with the county since 2009.<\/p>\n

Also, an injection well is considered a \u201cmajor facility\u201d under county codes, which requires a process similar to obtaining a Class 2 land-use permit. Catamount Energy has not started that process, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

All this might be a moot point because a company must obtain unanimous consent from all neighbors to waive rights under the county\u2019s regulations. And that appears unlikely.<\/p>\n

Ken Beck said he has good relations with Catamount Energy. However, he\u2019s not comfortable signing off on his right to speak up should an issue arise with the injection well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something goes wrong, you\u2019ve taken their money and you\u2019re not allowed to complain,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems uncomfortable to me to forgo protections there for the residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wayne Wiebe said residents haven\u2019t been informed of the full scale of Catamount Energy\u2019s intended operation. He, like others opposed to the waiver, fears the injection well may affect his groundwater well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to have to listen to some of our concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ron Tate, whose property is closest to the proposed injection well, said he signed the waiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the regulations are there to protect everyone, but I also recognize sometimes (the regulations) go to a point where it\u2019s difficult to get anything done,\u201d he said. \u201cMy approach is, I\u2019m going to be a good neighbor and rely on their good faith to be a good neighbor back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kathryn Westbrook also signed the waiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (Catamount Energy) should have the right to do what they want,\u201d she said. \u201cThis county has too many laws, too many regulations, too many taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the county\u2019s regulations are intended to protect residents. He fears the waiver would make residents vulnerable to any possible future damages from the injection well, like groundwater contamination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is contamination, we\u2019d have to carry water here for the rest of our lives instead of pumping it out of the ground,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019d eat up $5,000 real quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Plata County drafted its own set of localized regulations for oil and gas development in the early 1990s, the first county in the state to do so. Roseberry said companies and residents are free to enter third-party contracts, but Catamount Energy is sort of in uncharted territory asking residents to waive all the county\u2019s regulations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure what they\u2019re doing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s odd.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Property owners appear split on whether to take the deal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1030,738,221,28,475,1512,477],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-64302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-environment","tag-environmental-issue","tag-gas-and-oil","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-la-plata-county-government","tag-natural-gas"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64302"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=64302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}