30 Years Ago Today: CO's "Black Sunday" Devastated Region
From: Colorado News Connection
Length: 01:49
PARACHUTE, Colo. - Thirty years ago today, the Grand Valley on Colorado's Western Slope went from boom to bust overnight - on a day known in the region as "Black Sunday."
On May 2, 1982, Exxon unexpectedly closed its oil-shale exploration and development project in Parachute, leaving 2,200 people out of work, causing 15,000 to leave the area and devastating the regional economy for a decade.
Herb Bacon, who was a banker at the time, still lives in the area and remembers the boom and bust as if they happened yesterday.
"It was just a total shock. There was just no formal warning of this, and overnight, we had a depression."
A new report from the Checks and Balances project outlines the aftermath of Black Sunday and other projects. Called "Oil Shale: A Century of Failure," it notes that despite federal incentives and tax breaks for producers, no U.S. commercial oil shale project has been successful.
The method has its proponents, who say such a failure has not been the case in other countries. Estonia is the current global leader in oil-shale production.
On Colorado's Western Slope, Bacon says, it's a different story. Just this year, he says, Chevron let its oil-shale exploration lease expire in the region.
"I don't think they have the answer yet of how you get that out of the ground without a total disaster. Our big concern is how much water is it going to take - and nobody's said yet. That's a touchy item, especially in our area."
Bacon remembers how Black Sunday forever changed his town.
"It was a tremendous impact. Our economy just exploded; it was going up like a rocket. Everybody was living accordingly. Then the rug got pulled out from under 'em."
The Checks and Balances report comes as the federal Bureau of Land Management is closing its public comment period on a proposal to allow oil-shale development on public lands in the West. The BLM proposal is online atostseis.anl.gov.
The Checks and Balances report is at checksandbalancesproject.org.
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PARACHUTE, Colo. - Thirty years ago today, the Grand Valley on Colorado's Western Slope went from boom to bust overnight - on a day known in the region as "Black Sunday."
On May 2, 1982, Exxon unexpectedly closed its oil-shale exploration and development project in Parachute, leaving 2,200 people out of work, causing 15,000 to leave the area and devastating the regional economy for a decade.
Herb Bacon, who was a banker at the time, still lives in the area and remembers the boom and bust as if they happened yesterday.
"It was just a total shock. There was just no formal warning of this, and overnight, we had a depression."
A new report from the Checks and Balances project outlines the aftermath of Black Sunday and other projects. Called "Oil Shale: A Century of Failure," it notes that despite federal incentives and tax breaks for producers, no U.S. commercial oil shale project has been successful.
The method has its proponents, who say such a failure has not been the case in other countries. Estonia is the current global leader in oil-shale production.
On Colorado's Western Slope, Bacon says, it's a different story. Just this year, he says, Chevron let its oil-shale exploration lease expire in the region.
"I don't think they have the answer yet of how you get that out of the ground without a total disaster. Our big concern is how much water is it going to take - and nobody's said yet. That's a touchy item, especially in our area."
Bacon remembers how Black Sunday forever changed his town.
"It was a tremendous impact. Our economy just exploded; it was going up like a rocket. Everybody was living accordingly. Then the rug got pulled out from under 'em."
The Checks and Balances report comes as the federal Bureau of Land Management is closing its public comment period on a proposal to allow oil-shale development on public lands in the West. The BLM proposal is online atostseis.anl.gov.
The Checks and Balances report is at checksandbalancesproject.org.
