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3.9 SOCIOECONOMIC (HOUSING REQUIREMENTS AND IMPACTS) <br />Affected Environment: The socioeconomic assessment area includes RBC and the towns of <br />Meeker and Rangely. Information for this report was obtained from numerous sources including <br />the State of Colorado, towns of Meeker and Rangely and the Williams Midstream EA. Based on <br />that data, the following potentially affected socioeconomic factors were addressed in this <br />analysis: changes in population, employment, housing, RBC facilities and services, and <br />emergency response. <br />Population: As of the 2000 census, there were 5986 people, 2306 households and 1646 families <br />residing in RBC. RBC's population has basically remained stable since 1990 except for the <br />posted 5% increase between 2000 and 2006. <br />Meeker and Rangely are the two main population centers in RBC. Since 1970, Meeker's <br />population has increased 50.4% from 1597 to 2402 people. Rangely's population increased from <br />1591 to 2278 (43.2 %)over the same time period. The resident population in the Piceance Basin <br />has remained static during that time and basically consists of cattle ranches. In 2006, 37.5% of <br />RBC's population resided in Meeker, 33.6% in Rangely and 28.9% in unincorporated areas of <br />the county (CDOLA 2006). <br />Employment: In October 2007, the county's unemployment rate was 1.7% (CDOL 2007). <br />Between 2001 and 2006, total wages paid in RBC increased from $77 million to $155 million, <br />which is a 101% increase. Most of this is due to the oil and gas well production boom. <br />Housing: Total housing units in RBC increased by approximately 5% from 2000 -2006. Meeker <br />housing grew by 5.1% while Rangely only grew by 1%. The largest increase in housing occurred <br />in unincorporated portions of RBC and is likely attributable to second homes. <br />RBC Facilities and Services: RBC services most likely to be affected by the WRC pit include <br />county road construction, maintenance and use and possibly emergency response. RBCR 5 will <br />carry the vast majority of traffic emanating from the WRC pit. Currently, all county roads are <br />serviced out of the Meeker shop, which requires county staff to make an 80 -100 mile round -trip <br />depending on the work location. Likewise, emergency response faces special circumstances in <br />RBC, including: <br />1. A large geographic area <br />2. Only two main access points at Hwy 64 and 13 to access RBCR 5 <br />3. Highly dispersed natural gas activities and facilities <br />4. Adverse weather conditions during winter <br />5. Lack of improved all - weather roads <br />6. Large increase in natural gas industry personnel <br />Environmental Consequences of Proposed Action: Since the WRC pit is a relatively small <br />operation requiring only 4 permanent employees, and since the adjacent Connell pit is soon to <br />end its production operations, potential effects to any of the listed socioeconomic factors will be <br />negligible. Given the current economic crisis facing the entire nation, operations at this facility <br />Environmental Solutions, Inc. <br />Page 25 of 30 March 09 <br />