Dear Broomfield City Council members,

I am grateful to the Broomfield City Council for considering a six-month moratorium on oil and gas development, including Extraction’s dangerous plan to place 139 wells close to homes and a drinking water reservoir. The moratorium proposal reflects the council’s appreciation of the potential health and safety threats posed by Extraction’s massive industrial project, and it is an appropriate response to Extraction's questionable promises and practices.

It is essential to the wellbeing of the community that you delay further decision-making on Extraction's proposal at your meeting on February 28th. Postponing your decision will allow Broomfield’s council and agencies the time needed to 1) fully investigate the city's legal options, 2) push for state legislation for local control and more protective setbacks, 3) update the Comprehensive Plan, 4) investigate Extraction’s safety record and methodologies, and 5) learn the results of lawsuits charging Extraction with failure to deliver promised safeguards at its operations in Greeley and with violating agreements with Colorado mineral rights owners.

Broomfield officials have stated that Extraction misled the city on the number of wells in its plan and the company is in questionable financial condition. And as we know from Erie’s experience, MOUs between local governments and operators can be very difficult and costly to enforce. More time is needed to investigate these factors before making decisions that will affect citizens for years to come.

Your decisions on Extraction’s proposed project may be the most important decisions of your term. Your constituents, as well as people living in neighboring communities, need you to stand up and resist the industry’s massive lobbying power, legal threats, and dubious promises. Your duty is to protect the health and safety interests of the people of Broomfield first and foremost, by protecting their air, water, and democratic rights. What happens in Broomfield will affect other communities across the Front Range and throughout Colorado. It is imperative to avoid setting a new precedent that would embolden the industry to increase the size and number of hazardous drilling sites near homes and schools throughout the state.

I urge you take additional time to consider every aspect of this issue and to work assertively with Colorado legislators to change Colorado law to 1) establish protective setbacks that prevent drilling dangerously close to homes, schools and water sources and 2) affirm the right of communities to protect themselves from hazardous drilling operations.