Research Questions

Theses questions weren't easy to answer. I have called and emailed several people. Hopefully they will be returning my calls/emails and I can provide the missing infomation.

1. How has the production of Colorado natural gas changed in the past 5 years?

With the constant increase in oil prices the U.S. has looked for other resources as an alternative for oil. According to ColoradoProspects.com, in the past five years natural gas production in Colorado has shown a steady increase due to the development of Western Colorado (Mesa Rio Blanco, and Garfield Counties.) The natural gas resources found in these three counties is estimated to be 31 trillion cubic feet in diameter. Making this the largest discovers of natural gas in the Rocky Mount region.


2. How many companies currently explore and mine natural gas in the state of Colorado?

According to ColoradoProspects.com, there are more than 940 energy and mining businesses in Colorado. Also Wikinvest.com suggests, that companies such as, Exxon Mobil, BP, and Chevron, play a huge part in the rise of natural gas trends.

3. What ecological or environmental disasters have occurred as a result of raw resource recovery in Colorado’s history?

Although I did not find this answer I have emailed and called a few people concerning environmental disasters resulting from natural gas. One person emailed is Bob Beers, State Senator, District 6. Mr. Beers have been working on preventing future natural gas environmental and ecological disasters. I have also emailed Joe Neuhof from the Colorado environmental coalition.

4. How many people live on or near the Roan Plateau?


There are three major counties that surround the Roan Plateau, Garfield, Rio Blanco, and Mesa. The last statistics and demographics I could find were from 2006 on the Garfield county website. www.garfield-county.come
2006 Population
Garfield County- 49,325
Mesa-127,808
Rio Blanco-6102
Total Population surrounding the Roan Plateau-183,235

5. How much of Colorado’s drinking water is unprocessed? (What percentage of the population does not receive water from treatment plants?)

Although I don’t have an answer for this question yet, I emailed Mark Cardwell,Managing Editor Digital Media, at the Denver Post. Mr. Cardwell has written articles on the drinking water in Colorado. Also, I have called and I emailed the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Their mission is, “The Colorado Drinking Water Program makes sure that Public Water Systems always provide safe drinking water. We adopt and enforce regulations and provide assistance and incentives that further protect the quality of drinking water supplied by public water systems.”