So why is an oil and gas company getting ready to drill right next to a school?
Extraction Oil & Gas's fracking project looms just beyond the playground of Bella Romero Academy playground in Greeley, Colorado. Photo by Kyle Ferrar, courtesy of FracTracker Alliance.
Colorado can no longer put the interests of oil and gas companies above those of communities and the environment, a state appeals court recently ruled. The Colorado Court of Appeals agreed with six Colorado youth that the state's law regulating oil and gas activities prioritizes public health and the environment over fossil fuel extraction. "The clear language of the Act," the court ruled, "mandates that the development of oil and gas in Colorado be regulated subject to the protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including the protection of the environment and wildlife resources."
The case was brought by Our Children's Trust, a coordinated national campaign elevating the voices of young people for systemic change in the fight against climate change. The Sierra Club, along with Colorado community groups, filed an amicus brief supporting the young people and advocating for the position the court ultimately adopted. Reflecting on the victory, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez​, a sixteen-year-old plaintiff in the case, said, "Our movement to fight for the rights of people and our environment is evolving. From the streets to the courtroom, the voices of the younger generation will be heard, and the legal system is a tool for our resistance. Small wins build up to create massive change."
But the health of many more Colorado youth is still under threat: the state recently approved a controversial new fracking project next to a school serving a predominantly Latino environmental justice community in Greeley. As we wrote in a previous blog post, Extraction Oil and Gas is poised to drill 24 gas wells a mere 1,350 feet from the walls of Bella Romero Middle School—and even closer to the athletic fields where the students play outside. Scientific studies have repeatedly demonstrated that air pollution caused by fracking contributes to acute and chronic health problems, including neurological and respiratory conditions, especially among children who are more likely to suffer asthma attacks after being exposed.
This week, the Sierra Club and a coalition of civil rights and community groups, represented by the Denver University Environmental Law Clinic, filed a lawsuit to stop this dangerous fracking and put the appeals court's interpretation of Colorado oil and gas law to the test. The state's approval of a fracking project right next to a public school and nearby homes in a predominantly low-income, Latino neighborhood will endanger this community whose health is already disproportionately burdened by Colorado’s fracking boom. The state agency did not adequately assess the alternatives or the risks to community members, and issuing these permits violates the agency's duty to protect public health and the environment.
The groups are calling for Colorado to uphold the law, protect public health, and, ultimately, to force the company to conduct any fracking operations farther from schools and homes and away from sites that disproportionately affect low-income, Latino and African-American residents.