Local

In a minority report, the recently concluded 21-member Colorado statewide task force looking at local control issues for oil and natural gas activities has left a wide array of unfinished business captured in 24 recommendations that failed to receive two-thirds votes. They are part of the final report, but not part of the nine recommendations being passed on for implementation.

In a landmark, yet divided, ruling in favor of the oil and gas industry, the Ohio Supreme Court said Tuesday that state municipalities may not use their “home rule” powers to interfere with drilling because its regulation is the dominion of state government.

As the deadline nears for a governor’s task force to make legislative recommendations for Colorado’s oil/natural gas local control issues, the prospects for solutions look as dim as ever.

Colorado’s governor-appointed 21-member local issues task force reconvened for two days of meetings Thursday and Friday, hearing from a panel of local government representatives on differences between local and state regulations governing oil and gas operations.

A study released by the Duke University Energy Initiative found that oil and gas production is generating significant revenue for local governments in eight states with active shale development, providing them with adequate funds to handle the increased costs associated with industry development.

Eco-warriors among civic politicians across Canada were sent a reminder Thursday that their weapons are limited: They have no power to block pipeline construction.

Given political and legal developments in recent months that strengthen the state’s position in regulating oil and natural gas activities, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) agreed Tuesday to dismiss its nearly two-year-old lawsuit against a city ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed by Longmont, CO, voters.

Rex Energy Inc. is planning to begin site development late next week at a controversial location near a large school campus in western Pennsylvania. The company has been met with staunch opposition from a group of parents concerned about the health and safety of students.

Ohio activists are continuing to push for referendums to amend city charters that would ban horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and injection wells, even in areas where little or no oil and gas activity is taking place.