Nearly 500 community members flooded the ECMC hearing about the Sunlight Long fracking project on Sept 11. The capacity crowd even occupied the lawns outside the venue. All the comments strongly urged ECMC commissioners to reject the 32 new wells proposed for this urban site. Opposition is led by our friends at STAR (Save the Aurora Reservoir). Community members wearing blue gave over 3 hours of testimony on the dangers of this project to residents’ health, home values, nearby schools, biodiversity, superfund site integrity, reservoir safety, wildlife and more. They cited increased air pollution, toxic wastewater contamination, spills, explosions, noise, dust and truck traffic. Speakers expressed deep skepticism that the O&G operator would abide by the conditions placed on the project, citing illegal and shady practices during past projects.
BACKGROUND: As you likely know, the proposed Sunlight-Long well pad would be one mile away from two elementary schools and 2 miles from a middle school and an high school. Approximately 10,000 homes are within a 2 mile radius of the drilling site, and the underground wellbores would extend horizontally underneath Aurora Reservoir, where our drinking water is stored. Arapahoe County approved the Sunlight Long petition to drill in an administrative maneuver, without a public hearing and without a full County Commissioner vote. This means that the Sept 11 ECMC was the only in-person opportunity for citizens to give feedback (the final hearing at the ECMC will be conducted virtually).
Read more about coverage of this meeting in the local press:
