Help, I'm getting Fracked!

You’re in the right place! Follow environmental organizations like Colorado Rising (that’s us!) and Save The Aurora Reservoir via email, social media, and their websites. We track the upcoming dockets, organize hearing turnout, and often know about a proposed pad before the ECMC ever posts a public notice. We’ve been through this process before, and it’s part of our role in community to organize with those impacted by potential fracking projects.

None of that happens on its own. Tracking dockets, showing up at hearings affecting communities from Aurora to Windsor and everywhere in between, and helping neighbors find their voice in a process built for industry insiders takes real time and real people. If this page has helped you understand what you’re up against, consider a donation to help us keep doing this work for the next community that finds itself asking, “am I getting fracked?”

Pay attention in your neighborhood, your municipality, and at the county level. Most people don’t hear about a well pad from the ECMC first. They hear about it from a neighbor, a mailer, or a post in a local Facebook or Nextdoor group. Long before a docket number exists, keep an eye on:

• Operator mailers or door hangers announcing a Pre-Application Community Meeting. ECMC keeps a running list of these on its Upcoming Community Events & Meetings page (don’t worry, we monitor that too!)
• Your town or city council’s agenda. Towns like Erie don’t have siting authority over county land, but they often negotiate directly with operators and are usually the first local government to know something is coming.
• Your county’s land use calendar. In Weld County, that’s the 1041 WOGLA Hearings page.

The earlier we catch we catch these applications, the more stages of review we still have left to intervene.

Once a project is in motion, here’s where to plug in at each stage:

1. At the operator-hosted community meeting. Attend if one is scheduled near you. They’re run by the oil & gas company, not the ECMC, but it’s your earliest chance to raise concerns directly, before the application is even filed. Check the schedule on ECMC’s Community Events page.
2. At the county level. Watch for hearing notices from your county. In Weld County, that’s the Board of County Commissioners’ oil and gas docket. This is your best chance to shape site-specific conditions before the application ever reaches the state.
3. During ECMC’s written comment period. Find the docket number. It’s in ECMC press releases and hearing notices. Submit written comments through the eFiling portal before the deadline. Written comments become part of the official record the Commission has to consider, even if you can’t attend the final commission hearing.
4. At the public 511 hearing. If one hasn’t been requested yet, work with a local organization (it’s us, we can do this thing!) to ask for one. Register in advance to give oral testimony, or submit written comment instead. This is the hearing closest to your own community, and it’s probably the only chance where commissioners hear directly from residents  in person before they vote (most commission hearings are now held virtually).
5. At the ECMC Commission hearing. Sign up ahead of the weekly Wednesday meeting to comment when the seven-member Commission actually votes. You can watch live via Zoom or submit written comment in advance. Details are on ECMC’s Attend the Upcoming Hearing page. Showing up keeps pressure on through the final decision, which, as both Draco and Sunlight-Long show, can take multiple hearings and well over a year to resolve.

Want ECMC to notify you directly instead of checking manually? While they’re often a bit cryptic, you may sign up for their various hearing notifications.