The City of Fort Collins will host a public forum on Thursday, June 4 at 6 pm so residents can learn the results of oil and gas studies commissioned by the City. The reports were commissioned by the City in response to Ballot Measure 2A, passed by voters in November 2013. That ballot measure called for a five-year moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing and the storage of its wastes within Fort Collins’ city limits and on lands under the city’s jurisdiction. The ballot measure required studies regarding the impact of fracking on human health and property values.
If anyone is expecting to learn that fracking is impacting health or property values in the City, they will be disappointed. According to the reports, “residents’ current exposure to the hazardous components from hydraulic fracturing and oil production in water and soil is likely very limited or non‐existent …” The real estate appraisal firm Hunsperger & Weston, LTD looked at impacts of fracking on property values and concluded the following, ”While literature that references potential environmental and property value impacts associated with fracking is abundant, the direct correlation between fracking impacts and property values is more sparsely documented…”
In other words, the studies do not reveal any new information about adverse impacts of fracking on Fort Collins residents. The studies are available online here: http://www.fcgov.com/oilandgas/.
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