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Aspen Public Radio news keeps you up to date with the latest information on the environment. From the debate over gas/oil drilling in the valley to water and wildlife - you will find our on-going commitment to those stories here.

Some hope for Battlement Mesa protesters before next step

Elise Thatcher

  Battlement Mesa residents say they’ll continue fighting a proposal to drill near homes, a golf course and other areas nearby. Ursa Resources wants to drill two pads in Battlement Mesa, with a total of more than fifty wells combined.

County planning officials decided Wednesday to recommend that plan go forward. Before the nearly seven hour meeting, dozens of residents, most of them retirees, protested outside. Leslie Robinson is chair of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, and says she appreciates that officials ultimately recommended air quality monitoring and other protections for Battlement Mesa. “We hope to get more when we go through the Board of County Commissioners,” she described Thursday. “But we’re also fearful they’ll also strip some of the conditions of approval. So the fight isn’t over yet.”

Ursa has mineral rights inside Battlement Mesa neighborhoods,  that go back many years. Most residents say were not told about that when purchasing their homes there. The proposal goes next to the Garfield County Commissioners later this year.

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