From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):
A 1,000-square-mile grassland basin between Pikes Peak and the Collegiate mountains, South Park holds headwaters of the South Platte River. In 2009, it was declared a national heritage area, one of three in Colorado and 49 in the United States. On Tuesday, Houston-based El Paso Corp. confirmed it has drilled one well in South Park and holds government permits to drill two more. Plans to drill up to 300 wells in South Park and install a gas pipeline depend on whether enough gas is found, El Paso Corp. spokesman Richard Wheatley said…
“It would be nice if the federal government, State Land Board, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Park County, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission would start talking to each other,” [Eddie Kochman, a former state fisheries chief] said. “It would be nice if Denver Water, instead of sitting in the bleachers, would take an active role.”
Denver Water officials who provide water to 1.3 million metro-area residents “are not experts on oil and gas exploration or fracking,” director of operations Brian Good said. “We’re water folks. We’ve got to trust that the regulatory bodies are doing their job in reviewing applications and assigning permits.”[…]
South Park residents Tuesday met with Park County authorities to consider using a county trust fund to conduct their own baseline study of water resources. Some say they’re not opposed to limited drilling if it could really be done safely — with none of the damage seen elsewhere around Colorado.