DenverGazette.com
Angry subdivision residents southwest of the Aurora Reservoir are trying to stop Civitas Resources from drilling up to 191 horizontal well bores on more than 63 square miles of the former Lowry Air Force Base bombing and gunnery range. Two oil and gas companies merged to create Civitas Resources, Inc., one of the biggest operators in Colorado’s DJ Basin.
Kevin Chan, who recently moved to Colorado, started a Facebook page called Save the Aurora Reservoir when he found out about the drilling. The website is intended to inform community residents what Civitas is planning. Chan started a GoFundMe Nov. 9 to “buy yard signs, print flyers, and inform our community what is happening.”
According to the GoFundMe, “We have seen too many news stories about oil companies contaminating our water. We will not be the next Hinkley or Dimock. We will not have our water contaminated by various oil extraction activities.”
Civitas spokesperson, Rich Coolidge, in a statement to The Denver Gazette said: “There is a wealth of information that consistently dispels any concerns related to water quality.” The information that Coolidge spoke of is on the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s website www.coga.org.