Fort Lupton Rejects Halliburton's Request For Helipad
By Laura Phillips
FORT LUPTON, Colo. (CBS4) - During a packed city council meeting on Monday night, councilors voted 4-1 to deny Halliburton's request for a permit to build a helipad in Fort Lupton. Many neighbors spent months rallying against the oil company's plan.
After the vote, the neighbors left the meeting happy and relieved.
Halliburton applied for the permit with plans to use two large helicopters to transport crews to and from the drill site. They'd fly between 4 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. – 10 p.m, at least six times a day.
The company claims helicopters would be safer for employees who currently travel by bus, and it would reduce traffic congestion.
Neighbors were worried about noise, property values, the well-being of livestock, environmental impacts and public safety. They eventually hired an attorney, Jim Campbell.
Several neighbors say they are not anti-oil and gas. Rather, they want to see their local government do more research on the project so big oil doesn't overtake their small town.
"That's what we're asking them to do," Campbell said. "There has to be mitigation studies on vibration, mitigation studies on fumes, on waste. They're going to be tracking dust. They're going to be landing in potentially contaminated sites and bringing that back into the city. There's a lot of things they haven't looked at in this."
