DENVER – The fight over hydraulic fracturing in Colorado is ramping up in the final days before the 2016 General Assembly convenes.

On Tuesday, 11 anti-fracking ballot initiatives began the process that could lead to the November ballot and House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, a Democrat, told a room full of business leaders there are at least two bills coming next session dealing with oil and gas development.

The issue was mostly dormant during the 2015 General Assembly as a task force appointed by the governor tried to address concerns about fracking and other oil and gas impacts.

The task force issued recommendations in February, but some have felt those didn’t go far enough.

“I feel the state has not done enough to protect its residents from the impacts of commercial hydraulic fracturing,” said Tricia Olson, executive director of the nonprofit that wants to put the oil and gas measures on the November ballot. “People could be exposed right next to their homes and schools to this heavy industrial practice.”

Olson’s group – Coloradans Resisting Extreme Energy Development – submitted the 11 proposed amendments to the Colorado Constitution on the topic. They propose things like mandatory setbacks, giving local governments more authority to regulate oil and gas and an outright prohibition on fracking in Colorado. Olson said she became passionate about the issue after Googling fracking in 2011 and being horrified by the process.

Fracking is the term used for the extraction of oil and gas by injecting a combination of water, rock and other substances under high pressure into the ground and fracturing the pockets that hold the resources. After the injection process is complete a well can produce oil and gas for decades.

Olson said not all of the measures will be taken to the ballot. There’s a long process ahead to set official language, make sure the measures adhere to Colorado rules for initiatives and gathering signatures to put them on the ballot. Olson declined to disclose who was funding the effort.

Dan Haley, president and CEO of Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the proposed measures would jeopardize a $31.7 billion industry in Colorado and chase jobs out of the state.

Haley said the work of the task force hasn’t been completed yet.

“To say we’re going to the ballot is not fair to the process,” Haley said.

The deal worked out in 2014 between a different group that had proposed initiatives and the governor’s office was that the task force would try to resolve the issue rather than taking it to voters to decide.

Haley said he was meeting with Hullinghorst on Tuesday to discuss the next session, but hadn’t seen any proposed legislation.

Hullinghorst told business leaders Tuesday that she hoped pending lawsuits over whether local communities can regulate the industry will help shed light on the issue.

“We need to trust our local government to do that job and do it right,” she said.

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Contact Megan Schrader: (719) 286-0644

Twitter: @CapitolSchrader

The fight over hydraulic fracturing in Colorado is ramping up in the final days before the 2016 General Assembly convenes (Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post)

Cyrus McCrimmon