Part One
Drive west on Interstate 70 and a change in the landscape is evident almost as soon as you pull out of Glenwood Springs. Natural gas wells dot the highway. Their prevalence is not new, but the industry is growing and with that growth comes serious public policy debates. Aspen Public Radio's Luke Runyon looked into what’s at stake for the industry and for residents who fear for their health. In part one of his report he has one example of what happens when oil and gas operations attempt to coexist in a densely populated neighborhood.
Part Two
Fracking. The word is powerful enough in Western Colorado to elicit gut reactions. The spreading use of the drilling practice is touted as a way to wean the United States off foreign oil. Critics, who say their air is being polluted with noxious fumes, believe fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a health hazard. There still is no definitive science to back up the claim. One of the only studies to consider the issue was recently halted before completion. Now, residents of the small retirement community of Battlement Mesa in Garfield County have taken matters into their own hands; they are doing their own testing. In the second of our reports on the debate over natural gas drilling in Garfield County, Aspen Public Radio’s Luke Runyon explores whether this citizen sampling is political action or sound science.
Part Three
Colorado’s natural gas industry is growing...fast. Drilling companies are seeking permits to open more wells at a furious pace. And the requests are no longer limited to just the western part of the state, the region generally thought of as Colorado’s natural gas mecca. Now parts of northern and eastern Colorado could be on the brink of a drilling boom as companies are scooping up mineral rights to a massive shale formation. Nationally, demand for gas is growing and that has companies aggressively exploring in the state. In the final part of our report on natural gas drilling in Colorado, Aspen Public Radio’s Luke Runyon explains that changes in drilling technology will likely have the biggest impact on the future of energy development here.
