Cynthia McNeill, a state assistant attorney general, has concurred with this opinion. Assistant County Attorney Jeff Robbins said state legislation is ambiguous. He said there is reason to believe the county's regulations are legally valid. In a Wednesday letter to the county commissioners, he listed nine reasons the county should not enforce its standards. They would lead to a four-fold increase in noise mitigation costs for the industry.
Litigation promised by oil and gas companies has a sound basis in the law.
The state's standard is 50 decibels. Five decibels on the weighted scale is a 50 percent increase in noise. The weighted scale differs from the normal decibel scale generally used. Keller said he found in field tests that an oil and gas compressor at 50 decibels was the dominant noise in the area. A compressor at 45 decibels blended in with the surrounding noise.