DURANGO, Colo. — La Plata County Commissioner Wally White cast the sole dissenting vote on Tuesday when the commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding, or agreement, with BP about the gas company's request to increase drilling near Ignacio, Colo.

White said he knew the commissioners would approve the agreement when he voted against it. His action, he said, was symbolic. Negotiations with BP should have occurred more openly, he said, and he wanted more input from residents. "But the thing that really set me off was the fact that we got no movement on changing some very minor language."

County staff did its job when they negotiated terms with BP, such as increased road-impact fees, White said. Still, he plans to encourage them in the future to make more changes if other gas companies approach them about reaching an agreement.

"Sometimes they just don't feel they can push farther," he said, adding that perhaps he, too, did not push hard enough for changes to an existing memorandum of understanding. "Their work was good. It just didn't get to the point where it felt comfortable."

The agreement outlines details such as where BP can drill wells, its responsibility for extending electricity and using roads, how it should test water wells for contamination and more. The current agreement applies to 85 square miles east of Durango, where BP plans to double the wells, pending approval from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission at its Aug. 14 meeting.

La Plata County first signed an agreement with BP in September 2005 after meeting at length with residents about their concerns. Since then, other Colorado counties have looked to La Plata County's agreement when negotiating about drilling with oil and gas companies, according to La Plata County Commissioner Sheryl Ayers.

She and Commissioner Bob Lieb voted to approve the agreement. Ayers said it forces BP to comply with requirements BP could otherwise ignore, such as where it builds additional well pads.

"There are things in the (agreement) that industry has agreed to that they're not required to do. That we could not require them to do. That the COGCC could not require them to do. And they're good for our citizens," she said.

The county may include other requirements for oil and gas drilling as it updates its land-use code in the coming months, Ayers said, stressing that she voted for the agreement because she thoroughly believes it to be in the residents' best interest.

Josh Joswick, energy issues organizer with the San Juan Citizens Alliance, and a former county commissioner, argued the county patronized its citizens by signing the agreement, taking a "father knows best" approach that is not in the residents' best interest.

"Where they're coming from, they want to make this an efficient process," he said. "But they've lost sight of what works well for He complained residents have lost trust that the commissioners will make changes when they offer suggestions. "Hopefully the county will actually entertain some input this time, like they said they were going to," he said.

Dan Larson, spokesman for BP, said the company is confident the oil and gas commission will approve BP's new application because it's virtually identical to past applications.