Colorado
Colorado Reaches Settlement with Suncor Energy on Fenceline Monitoring Lawsuit
The state of Colorado announced today that it had reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Suncor Energy regarding fenceline monitoring requirements for its Commerce City refinery. Colorado also announced that it will penalize Suncor $2.5 million for repeated air pollution violations and require another $8 million for projects Suncor must complete to avoid future emissions from power disruptions.
The settlement sets a strict December 2024 deadline for Suncor to finally abide by the requirement to continuously monitor its entire fenceline. The fenceline monitoring statute requires facilities to monitor for three pollutants but gives the division authority to monitor additional pollutants. However, while the division originally required Suncor to monitor for eleven additional pollutants, the new plan does not include any additional pollutants. In a side agreement, the state and Suncor have agreed that Suncor will monitor three other pollutants, but this requirement is not covered by the plan and if Suncor violates the requirement, it cannot be enforced as a violation of state law.
In late 2022, community and conservation groups intervened in the suit to maintain fenceline monitoring requirements for the Suncor refinery. Earthjustice represented GreenLatinos, the Elyria-Swansea Neighborhood Association, Healthy Air and Water Colorado, Womxn from the Mountain, Conservation Colorado, and Sierra Club.
“Enforcement cannot be bought and cannot be performative,” said Renée M Chacon, executive director and cofounder of Womxn from the Mountain. “In order to truly move the needle away from Suncor repeatedly evading accountability, there must be increased protections to align with what the community has demanded for generations. The state has failed to protect us again with meaningful enforcement.”
“While we haven’t had time to fully digest the fenceline monitoring settlement, we remain disappointed in a broken regulatory scheme that allows Suncor to sue to reduce the protections that the community worked with the legislature to create,” said Ean Thomas Tafoya, GreenLatinos CO state director. “And while this enforcement action may be the largest in state history, it does not nearly deliver on the health improvements North Denver residents have been working towards.”
“Suncor Energy, which in 2022 alone made more than $27 billion in gross profits, once again gets away with a slap on the wrist with this minimal fine of $2.5 million for hundreds of violations over a three-year period,” said Ramesh Bhatt, chair of the Colorado Sierra Club conservation committee. “We are glad that some of the money is going into the environmental justice fund, but environmental justice will only be served if Suncor stops polluting the already overburdened people and environment around its facility.”
“We’re glad to see that Suncor will finally be required to make changes to prevent future violations, but residents should not have to wait over four years for Suncor to be held accountable,” said Ian Coghill, senior attorney for Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. “Suncor’s repeated air pollution violations have harmed the surrounding community for decades. While the fenceline monitoring requirement is finally resolved, Suncor successfully avoided monitoring its entire fenceline for two years by filing this lawsuit.”
DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today the team has signed defenseman Brett Kulak to a five-year contract extension through the 2030-31 season.
Kulak, 32, was originally acquired by the Avalanche in a trade with Pittsburgh on Feb. 24, 2026 and tallied three points (0g/3a) in 27 regular-season showings for Colorado over 19:08 of average time on ice per game. His 2025-26 regular season consisted of playing for the Edmonton Oilers and Penguins in addition to the Avalanche where he totaled 12 points (1g/11a) in 83 contests. Kulak was the only NHLer to skate in 83 games last season. Additionally, he dressed in his 600th career NHL contest on Nov. 15 at Carolina and notched his 100th career assist on Dec. 30 vs. Carolina.
The 6-foot-1, 192-pound defenseman was in the lineup for all 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Avalanche in 2026 and chipped in five points (1g/4a) and logged 20:38 of time on ice per game. The goal was his first with the Burgundy and Blue, regular season or postseason, and it came as the overtime-winner in Game 5 of the Second Round (May 13) to send the Avalanche to the Western Conference Final. It was the third time a defenseman scored a series clinching overtime goal in Avalanche/Nordiques history and the first since Sandis Ozolinsh (Game 6 of the 1996 Conference Semifinal) did it 30 years to the date prior to Kulak’s. Additionally, Kulak’s marker was the 10th time an Avalanche/Nordiques skater sent the team to the next round with an overtime tally and the first instance since Artturi Lehkonen in Game 4 of the 2022 Western Conference Final (June 6, 2022).
A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Kulak has registered 137 points (29g/108a) in 663 career regular-season games with Colorado, Pittsburgh, Edmonton, the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames from 2014-26. The last 370 of those games have come consecutively and he enters 2026-27 with the ninth-longest active “Iron Man” streak in the NHL. The left-shot defenseman has also added 29 points (4g/25a) over 111 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests and has been a member of three teams that have made it to the Stanley Cup Final (2023-24 and 2024-25 Oilers, 2020-21 Canadiens). Kulak’s 111 playoff games lead all NHL defensemen since making his postseason debut in 2020 and are second among all skaters in that span behind only Corey Perry (126).
Originally drafted by the Flames in the fourth round (105th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft, Kulak appeared in 136 AHL games over parts of the 2012-19 campaigns (13g/41a). He was also a member of the then-ECHL Colorado Eagles for part of 2014-15. Prior to turning pro, Kulak played for the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants from 2010-14 and amassed 128 points (35g/93a) in 216 regular-season contests.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is searching for a missing child.
CSPD said 11-year-old Emilio Gerardo was last seen Thursday around 8:06 p.m. near North Carefree Circle and Peterson Road.
Gerardo is described as a 4-foot-8 and 65-pound Hispanic male with brown hair and brown eyes.
Police said he was last seen in a black shirt, black pants and black Converse shoes. They said he may have a VR headset with him.
Police said he could be in the area of Sand Creek High School or Remington Park.
If you see Gerardo or know where he may be, contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Colorado
Kids escape unscathed after van slips off Colorado mountain road and down Blue River embankment
A van carrying campers from a hike near Blue River rolled down an embankment Thursday afternoon, but everyone inside escaped without major injuries. According to the Keystone Science School, the 15-passenger van was transporting 13 campers and two adults back from Mohawk Lakes when it slid off a wet road and rolled over.
Emergency crews responded to Spruce Creek Road after receiving reports of a single-vehicle rollover.
“We’re fortunate that it was low speed, and there was no intrusion into the passenger cabin,” Matt Benedict, division chief of wildfire and community preparedness for Red, White and Blue Fire said.
Investigators believe muddy conditions created by recent rainfall contributed to the crash. The van rolled down a steep embankment before coming to rest against a tree. Two people suffered minor injuries, but neither required transportation to a hospital, according to fire officials.
Keystone Science School confirmed emergency responders arrived quickly and that no major injuries were reported.
“The safety and well-being of our campers and staff is our highest priority,” Executive Director Eric Rightor said in a statement. “We are grateful that there were no major injuries, and we are committed to fully supporting all those involved and their families.”
Fire officials also credited seatbelt use for helping protect those inside the vehicle. “We always encourage everyone to wear their seatbelts… and they did. And everybody left,” Benedict said.
The Keystone Science School is located in Summit County.
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