A review of oil and gas complaints by residents to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission shows noise is what irks them the most.
The Denver Post reports 419 complaints were filed with the commission in 2016 compared to 240 in 2010 and 252 in 2013. But the number is fast growing—704 already this year. The state has received on average one complaint a day and it usually is about noise.
“It’s intrusive, it really is,” said Matt Lepore, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. “You feel like your house is being violated in some kind of way.”
But as the newspaper found out, regulators have little or no ability to punish operators for repeated violations of noise.