Click the link to read the article on The Denver Post website (John Aguilar). Here’s an excerpt:
April 21, 2026
Colorado oil and gas regulators on Tuesday approved a controversial 24-well drilling operation that will sit just over a half-mile from hundreds of Aurora homes and a reservoir that serves as the city’s primary water supply. The 3-2 vote by the state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission, in favor of the State Sunlight/Long well pad proposed by Crestone Peak Resources, came after about five hours of testimony and deliberation. The decision ends what had become one of the more contentious battles over energy extraction in Colorado. Board Chair Jeff Robbins acknowledged that the application from Crestone had evoked a strong reaction from homeowners living nearby. But in the end, the company complied with rigorous state oil and gas regulations enshrined in a law known as Senate Bill 181, which was passed by state lawmakers seven years ago.
“At the end of the day, State Sunlight/Long achieves the balance we were told to look for,” Robbins said.
[…]
The two commissioners who voted no were Trisha Oeth and John Messner. The approvals process for the Sunlight/Long well pad encompassed seven hearings before the commission, stretching over several months. Nearby homeowners rose up in opposition, claiming that the project would pose health hazards to those living nearby — in particular, to school-age children. They also worried about the drilling’s potential environmental impacts on the Aurora Reservoir, which is a water source for the 400,000 residents of Colorado’s third-largest city.
“I cannot believe that the state came down on the side of the industry yet again,” Randy Willard, the president of opposition group Save the Aurora Reservoir, said in an interview minutes after the vote came down Tuesday afternoon. “The group as a whole is severely disappointed.”
The group had pushed back on the proposed project using the 2019 oil and gas reform law as a guide, Willard said. The 2019 law prioritized public health, safety and the environment when regulators consider oil and gas development — a profound change from the industry-focused approach Colorado had taken for decades.