The crowd greeted the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission when it met at the Paramount Theater, a Denver concert hall, to start 14 days of hearings on new regulations to protect water, air and wildlife.
The gathering was smaller than the 2,000 people who packed into a hearing two weeks ago in Grand Junction. Many at that hearing were gas-industry workers who said the rules threatened their livelihood. Testimony at the Denver hearing, in contrast, seemed evenly split between the industry and its critics, although applause generally was louder when witnesses spoke up for the industry.
During public testimony, the two sides accused each other of using scare tactics.
"The sky is not falling. The oil and gas industry will not leave Colorado if we ask them to protect our wildlife, water supplies and homes as they develop the resource," said Stephanie Thomas, an environmental advocate.
But Kathleen Sgamma, a gas and oil worker, said the other side was spreading "scare tactics that our air and water are threatened, despite a complete lack of scientific evidence."
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association, an industry group, sponsored breakfast at a next-door restaurant before the 8 a.m. hearing. Many in the crowd wore COGA stickers that read "Don't rule us out." But the crowd of 800 rapidly dwindled after a few hours.
The rule rewrite began in 2007 when the Legislature revamped the COGCC to include people representing environmental, health, wildlife and agricultural interests. Lawmakers also required the commission to adopt rules on health and wildlife. Gov. Bill Ritter and his advisers pushed for the change.
Josh Joswick with the San Juan Citizens Alliance cheered the proposed rules during Monday morning's public testimony.
"These are not radical. These are long overdue. They will not go as far as I'd like to see them go," Joswick said. "There will be responsible companies that find a way to operate under these rules, and those are the companies we want in Colorado."
Local government officials made a plea to keep their authority over gas and oil operations.
La Plata County attorney Jeff Robbins coordinated the local government testimony. He said it's possible for the state and counties to work together on regulations - an improvement from the 1990s, when the oil and gas commission sometimes joined the industry in suing local governments to overturn their regulations.
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"We ask that you look forward," Robbins told commissioners, "that you not go back in the past where litigation and jurisdictional battles ruled."
La Plata County Commissioner Wally White also testified in general support of the new rules.
"Many of us are tired of hearing the fear-mongering from the industry and its employees," White said.
White doesn't think the industry will walk away from the "gold mine" of Southwest Colorado anytime soon, although he said that gas production from the San Juan Basin is declining.
"What you are protecting in your efforts is what will remain when the gas industry eventually does leave and the resource is extracted," White told the commission.
The nine commissioners - including Kimberlee Gerhardt and Tom Compton from La Plata County - spoke little, except to ask clarifying questions.
Commissioner Mark Cutright was an exception. He defended the industry and said it's well-regulated already.
"We have regulations on the books. There's some hysteria here that we're unregulated," said Cutright, one of the three commissioners from the energy industry.
People in the crowd cheered loudly at Cutright's comments.
Public testimony and opening statements took all day. Environmentalists and gas-industry groups won't have a chance to make their opening statements until this morning.
