Public Trust Institute Clients Sue Boulder for Unconstitutional Oil and Gas Ban

February 2, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Burrows (press@publictrustinstitute.org)

Lakewood, CO: Suit Challenges City’s Never-Ending “Moratorium” on Oil and Gas Development, Demands City Pay Mineral Rights Owners

The Public Trust Institute filed a lawsuit today against the City of Boulder alleging that the City’s nearly eight-year-old ban on oil and gas development violates the Fifth Amendment’s rule against taking private property without compensation.

In June 2013, Boulder instituted what was supposed to be a temporary moratorium on oil and gas development, with the idea that it would allow the City to reassess its local oil and gas regulations. However, the City has repeatedly extended this supposedly “temporary” measure, effectively banning mineral extraction.

“The original moratorium was only supposed to last for a year,” said Dan Burrows, the Institute’s legal director. “But, just this last December, the City Council voted to extend the ban for the fourth time, all the way to the end of 2021. By then, this supposedly temporary measure will have been in place for more than eight years.”

“Enough is enough,” continued Burrows. “If the City wants to ban oil and gas development, they need to buy out the mineral owners. That’s what the Constitution requires. Not this red light/green light game they’ve been playing.”

The Institute’s clients in the case are John and Valorie Wells, who own mineral rights within Boulder’s city limits. The surface land is owned by the City itself. But the Wellses have owned the mineral rights, in one form or another, since 1981.

Parts of Boulder are in what is called the “Greater Wattenberg Area.” This area has been a popular spot for oil and gas extraction since the 1970s. By 2015, it was one of the top producing areas in the United States and supported thousands of jobs in Colorado. However, mineral rights owners in Boulder have been unable to do anything with their investments. “This ban has taken valuable property and made it worthless,” said Burrows. “The City’s allowed to do that, I suppose. But not without paying for it.”