FALCON, COLO. -- The undeveloped land of the Banning Lewis Ranch in Falcon could soon be used to drill for oil.
The owners of the more than 21,000-acre property filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October. Since then, multiple companies have showed interest in the area, including an oil and gas company.
Eastern Colorado has long been used for oil and gas exploration because it sits on what is called the Niobrara Shale, a rock formation that contains oil and natural gas deep below the Earth's surface. Recently, drills struck oil in Weld County which led to oil companies searching for more.
"In the last several months, we've had a number of landowners contact us stating that they have had oil and gas companies talking to them about leases and exploration on their property," El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen said.
In order to answer the many questions eastern El Paso County home owners and land owners have, Colorado Representative Marsha Looper and Commissioner Lathen organized two meetings this week to address the issue.
"I brought all the regulators here from the different departments that regulate oil and gas so that we could educate the families and people of this area what the regulations and actual rules are regarding oil and gas production," Looper said.
What concerned most people at Tuesday's meeting held at the Mountain View Electric Association headquarters in Falcon were the effects the drilling could have on the thousands of residents who use well water.
"It is an essential part of life," Ramah resident Keith McCafferty said. "It is critical for livestock. It is critical for crops."
Looper said other counties across the state are facing the same issue, which is effecting tens of thousands of people.
"There are more than 500,000 people who rely on the groundwater that the oil and gas company wants to use for fracking," she said.
It is the process of fracking, a drilling process that reaches below groundwater, that has residents concerned. That process could contaminate the water.
"[The oil company] is really trying to express that there are safeguards in place," Lathen said. "Now we need to take a look at that and see if that is really the case."
Currently there are no land regulations for oil and gas exploration in El Paso County. Policy makers are looking into what rules, if any, need to be enacted. Land owners hope they rule in their favor.
"I understand that during tough economic times that this could be a great boom to El Paso County, for jobs and what not," McCafferty said. "But we want to make sure that if it is done, that the rights of the water of the property owner are protected."
Another meeting will be held Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the El Paso County Public Services Facility, located in the 3200 block Akers Drive in Colorado Springs.