The words below are, more or less, what I said to the Boulder County Commissioners when I participated via Zoom at their meeting. I was the only person who spoke during the public comment period. My participation was audio only. The main meeting topic was about their public housing, so I’m sure my comments must have caught them by surprise, and all three of them looked a bit miffed as I delivered my three minute tirade:

Good morning commissioners and staff: 

My name is Rick Casey, and I’m a resident of Fort Collins. However, I did live in Boulder County for several decades before I moved to Fort Collins in 2018. Since 2009, I have taught a class in environmental economics at Front Range, and have been involved in local environmental activism  since 2012. I support five websites related to those issues, through which I’ve gained some perspective on these complex problems. So I am speaking today on behalf of the Larimer Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the health and well being of Larimer County from the O&G industry. 

I wish to speak to you regarding your recent decision to stop funding the Boulder AIR monitoring program. I think this is quite a wrong decision, which has come as quite a shock to the environmental community in the area. 

This is not the time to stop monitoring our air quality. If anything, the need to do so will be increasing, not decreasing. The incoming Trump administration is poised to promote more drilling, weaken regulations on the industry, and, in general, increase the rate at which we are polluting the environment at a national level – and this is sure to have its effects on us at the local level. 

As a rather striking example of just how valuable this program is, it is my understanding that the methane data collected at the Boulder Reservoir station was instrumental in influencing the passage of new and stronger regulations in 2021 by the Air Qualty Control Commission that mandated improvements in O&G field operations. The new regulations mandated the use of pneumatic valves, which could reduce the amount of fugitive methane. This was a non-partican, multi-group effort that included both industry and environmental advocates. Since the implementation of these new valves, I have heard that – lo and behold! – the methane readings are indicating that the amounts of the fugitive gas have…indeed…decreased. 

Now this success story should not be cause for concluding that the need for monitoring is over. Until the amount of wells in Weld Country goes down dramatically, that need will never be over; and, if anything, this new administration worries me that the need will increase dramatically. 

Another reason I would be sad to see the Boulder station be retired is because I and my colleagues in the Larimer Alliance are trying to get our county commissioners to support getting a Boulder AIR station up here in Larimer County. We believe the other four Boulder AIR stations, if combined with a fifth station in Larimer County, would be highly effective in a detailed analysis of the sources of air pollution, and then be used to inform the best policies to address it. 

BECAUSE LIKE THE OLD ADDAGE SAYS: YOU CAN’T MANAGE WHAT YOU DON’T MEASURE!

So I hope you can understand why we feel the Boulder monitoring program is still needed. 

Thank you.