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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 |
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State Commission Wins Suit Upholding Oil and Gas Brine Waste Disposal RulesDENVER—Colorado’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission won a lawsuit Tuesday upholding Section 17 of the state’s solid waste regulations regarding commercial exploration and production, brine waste impoundments. Exploration and production waste, or brine waste, consists of salt water mixed with small amounts of hydraulic fracturing chemicals, crude oil and other hydrocarbons. The District Court in Denver declared late Tuesday the rules regulating these impoundments are reasonable and constitutional. The commission promulgated the Commercial Exploration and Production Waste Impoundment regulations on Nov. 18, 2008, and they became effective on Dec. 30, 2008. Section 17 updated existing requirements for exploration and production waste impoundments and included provisions that impoundments be synthetically lined unless they qualify for a waiver. ' Most facilities accepting exploration and production waste from more than one facility have been complying with the new requirements because the appeal did not prevent the new regulations from being effective. Section 17 does not regulate the exploration and production waste impoundments owned by well owners, which are subject to similar Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulations. Melanie Granberg, commission secretary, said, “The rules already have begun to protect Colorado's health and environment, so we are very pleased with the court's decision. We felt all along we had carefully considered all the facts and circumstances before us, and that we acted in accordance with the direction we received from the Legislature in enacting the new rules for these impoundments.” Section 17 had been appealed by two brine waste facility operators in Moffat County who argued that synthetic liners should not be mandatory, and that facilities existing before the rule went into effect should have been “grandfathered” out of the liner requirement. They also asserted that the schedule for complying with the regulations was too short and would force facilities into bankruptcy. The District Court disagreed on all counts, declaring that Section 17 reasonably regulates existing and future impoundments that could negatively affect the health and safety of the public. The court noted that Section 17 closely followed the General Assembly’s 2008 law requiring new impoundment regulations. The 2009 law provided for waiver of the liner requirement if certain requirements are met. The 2009 law made the mandatory liner requirement clear, in the court’s opinion. For more information about Section 17 and the stakeholder process used to update the regulations, access http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hm/sw/section17/basispurpose.pdf The solid waste regulations also are available at: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/regulations/solidwaste/100702part1SWRegs.pdf ---30--- |
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