Peter Adang, who is a member of the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission, and a member of the Citizens’ Working Group(CWG) that is drafting an oil & gas drilling ordinance, addressed ES-CA at its board meeting of May 7. Mr. Adang distributed a summary report on the status of the CWG and its progress on the draft ordinance (report is available at the ES-CA website – www.es-ca.org).
Randy Erickson, who is also a volunteer community member of a working group appointed by the CWG, addressed ES-CA as well and his report is also available on the ES-CA website.
Currently, two separate ordinances are being drafted. One would divide the County into three sections: 1) the San Juan basin area being the least restrictive one in which to drill; 2) the area between the San Juan basin and the Albuquerque basin, a transition area, would be more restrictive; and, 3) the third area would be the Albuquerque basin, where it would be the most restrictive with no fracking.
The other draft ordinance would not divide the County into sections and is being based upon the original “Citizens Ordinance” that was developed last year.
The CWG is supposed to have a final draft ordinance prepared and submitted to the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) later this summer. The P&Z will then review that ordinance and vote to recommend it to the County Commission or make changes and then recommend to the County Commission.
Please note that all CWG meetings are open to the public.
Another presentation was made by Elaine Cimino, who is a member of the Common Ground Community Trust. This organization is working to insure pipeline safety throughout the region and State. Not only is the concern with existing pipelines, but also with new proposed pipelines. They are working to develop plans to prevent spills and plans to provide mitigation and safety.
Our State and Federal officials have been involved in this process and several meetings have already occurred.
The next ESCA meeting will be on Monday, June 11th (please note the change from the first Monday to the second for this month), beginning at 6pm, and will be at the Placitas Community Library on Rt. 165. All residents are welcome to attend.