Coloradans have been at the forefront of curbing methane waste and pollution from oil and gas operations and their impact on public health and climate change. So it should come as no surprise the Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Rep. Diana DeGette are playing lead roles in advancing federal methane policy. Methane, a […]
Environmental Protection Agency
Posted inEconomy, Environment, News
Four Colorado cities win $2 million in EPA grants to redevelop old sites, from a movie theater to a beet factory
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday handed $2 million in Brownfields assessment and cleanup grants to four far-flung Colorado communities, helping to pay for development of everything from an old sugar beet factory in Loveland to an aging movie theater in Trinidad. Brownfields has been doling out billions of dollars for such evaluations and cleanups […]
Posted inEnvironment, Health, News
Colorado air pollution control managers ordered staff to falsify data and approve permits “at all costs,” whistleblowers say
State air pollution control managers endangered the health of Coloradans by unlawfully approving noxious gas permits for industry without federally mandated modeling or monitoring, according to a whistleblowing complaint filed Tuesday by technical employees inside the agency. Three state employees claim in a complaint to the U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General that their leaders […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Councilwoman Ortega, Sen. Moreno: “Building back better” means an opportunity for environmental justice for all communities
It is no secret that people who live in the Denver metro area are exposed to air pollution daily and frequently at hazardous levels. We breathe in pollution from power plants, industry, oil and gas facilities, from cars, trucks and buses, and wildfires as well as out-of-state. Emissions from these facilities also lead to the […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Delays in closing Colorado coal plants are costly in money and air quality
Under the Regional Haze provision of the federal Clean Air Act, states must submit a plan to reduce haze to the Environmental Protection Agency. This rule — aimed at limiting air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas — requires that Colorado submit its plans to the EPA by July 2021 and reduce pollution by […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News
Colorado air quality regulators update plan to lower ozone levels and align with EPA standards
Colorado’s air quality regulators on Friday adopted a new plan to combat Front Range ozone pollution that will tighten emissions from oil wells, boilers and automobiles, and may even change the way paint dries. The new plan is necessary as the federal Environmental Protection Agency is set next year to drop the region’s ozone status […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Why cutting EPA red tape is crucial to Colorado’s future
To live and work in Colorado is to understand the importance of major transportation projects. Whether it’s expanding capacity on our existing interstate and state highways, unclogging vital surface roadways or repairing bridges, Colorado citizens and businesses can’t afford long delays that cost us more time and money. That is why I was thrilled to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado needs statewide rules to reduce oil and gas emissions
My county, and several others on Colorado’s Front Range, have a distinguishing characteristic that is a continual thorn in our side, especially to me as a local elected official responsible for the well-being of my constituents. Our community in the Denver Metro/North Front Range area is known for its high ozone levels, which the Environmental […]
Posted inCOVID, News
EPA settles lawsuit with Utah over Gold King Mine spill
By Brady McCombs, The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. government settled a lawsuit Wednesday brought by the state of Utah over a mine waste spill caused by federal workers that sent wastewater downstream to several states from the inactive Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado five years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Many hoped the Gold King Mine spill would bring change. Five years later, they’re still waiting.
It didn’t take long after the sludge settled five years ago for the calls for change to begin. In fact, 3 million gallons of orange-gold water that poured out of the Gold King Mine on Aug. 5, 2015, was still flowing through the Colorado River watershed when discussions about the broader issue of thousands of […]