By Dave Marston
Only about 100 people live in Somerset in Western Colorado, a former coal company town squeezed into a narrow valley. A state highway and railroad tracks crowd on one side, the North Fork of the Gunnison River on the other.
Some say thereâs charm in the townâs narrow streets and funky houses with affordable rent. Whatâs more, thereâs no government except for a water district, though thatâs what a recent controversy is all about.
For over a century, Somerset has been dominated by a parade of big money interests, from Kaiser Steel to US Steel and now by billionaire Bill Koch, younger brother to the Koch brothers, known for financing far right politics.
Only about 100 people live in Somerset in western Colorado, a former coal company town squeezed into a narrow valley. A state highway and railroad tracks crowd on one side, the North Fork of the…
The plans involve the companies SG Interests and Gunnison Energy.
In 2019, a judge ruled that the Trump administration did not adequately examine the indirect environmental impact of burning oil and gas and its effect on the local deer and elk populations.
In a separate case involving drilling in western Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management agreed to do additional environmental analysis of oil and gas leases issued on more than 70 square miles (180 square kilometers) of land before any drilling can proceed.
The agreement, reached while settling a lawsuit from conservation groups, applies to 53 leases in Mesa and Garfield counties that were offered in 2016 and 2017, the Sentinel reported. The lawsuit challenged the land agency’s failure to conduct site-specific environmental reviews in approving the leases.
Land management bureau approves 2 Colorado drilling projects lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Land management bureau approves two Colorado drilling projects
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GRAND JUNCTION – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved for a second time two drilling projects in Colorado after considering a court-ordered greenhouse gas assessment of the development’s environmental impacts.
The two upper North Fork Valley drilling projects will total up to 226 wells and result in up to 17.26 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over a 30-year period,
The Daily Sentinel reported Wednesday.