Noise is the biggest source of oil and gas complaints in Colorado

August 20, 2017

To find the biggest fault line in the clash of homes and oilfields in Colorado, listen for the rumbles.

“Noise is continuous,” one resident in La Plata County complained to state oil and gas regulators earlier this year.

“My house is vibrating again,” a man in Erie reported.

“I haven’t slept in weeks due to this noise,” another Erie resident complained. “It’s wrong to do this to people.”

Over the past eight years, as houses and well pads inched closer across the state, complaints to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission boomed, according to a Denver Post analysis of complaint data.

In 2010, state regulators fielded 240 complaints. By 2013, that number had risen only to 252.

But last year, 419 complaints were filed with the state. Through July of this year, the tally is already higher — 704 complaints.

The biggest reason for the jump in those complaints is not concern about water safety or fear over explosions. It’s noise. More than one noise complaint per day on average has been filed so far this year.

“It’s intrusive; it really is,” said Matt Lepore, the director of the COGCC, which is in charge of regulating oil and gas production in the state. “You feel like your house is being violated in some kind of way...."

Read entire article on The Denver Post (AP).