Almost Half of 1000 Spills Contaminated Groundwater.

Interview with Shane Davis, published on Oct 1, 2013

"Shane is a nationally recognized expert data-miner and analyzer of official oil and gas documents. He publishes expose` documents that bring to light the truth about extractive mining that uses hydraulic fracturing and its collective adverse impacts to the environment and to human health.

..His creative methods of using official state data in public debates have the industry and the state calling him the ‘bane of the industry.’ He says:’ if the state and the industry says the data is wrong, that’s ok too, because it’s their data.’

Among some of his research projects, he has proven that one of Colorado’s aquifers was contaminated by oil and gas development [see: The Case of Mr. Anderson's Contaminated Water Well and the Contamination of the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer]

"On or about October 22, 2009, Eddy Oil began casing repair operations on the Well, without providing advance notice to COGCC Staff and without prior approval of the Director. This casing repair effort failed. On October 26, 2009, Eddy Oil contacted COGCC Staff for plugging orders on the Well, due the failed casing repairs. Consequently, COGCC Staff gave verbal plugging orders and completed a Form 6, Notice of Intent to Abandon, on the Dupper #2 Well. Eddy Oil then plugged the Well pursuant to the verbal plugging orders."

[Furthermore]...numerous private water wells were contaminated, homes have been built on top of abandoned oil and gas wells that subsequently exploded, groundwater contamination occurs at a staggering rate, playgrounds have been built on-top of backfilled oil and gas industrial waste pits, millions of gallons of toxic chemicals have been spilled and never recovered from the environment and the data goes on and on…"(Source: http://readthedirt.org/author/shane-davis)

Part One 

Shane Davis explains how he became an activist against fracking, and  how hydraulic fracturing works.

 

Part Two 

The environmental devastation by hydraulic fracturing in Weld County, Colorado as a result of the 2013 Front Range Floods.

Part Three 

How the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission has failed to protect the citizens of Colorado from pollution by the Oil & Gas Industry.

 

A Column the Greeley Tribune Refused to Publish

Here is the submission to the Greeley Tribune by Rachel Gilbert. It was refused on grounds that it was too long for a letter. But, when Rachel let editor, Randy Bangert, know she would like to submit it as a column, he was not willing to concede, saying they are bombarded with election letters and have a hard time getting them all in.

"Feel free to send it to others. And of course you don’t need my permission to do that anyway. Thank you, -- Randy Bangert"

"Last March 12, I attended a City Planning Commission hearing regarding the permitting of 22 hydraulic fractured wells just north of the Fox Run neighborhood. Throughout the hearing, residents of the Fox Run neighborhood expressed their concerns about the appropriateness of the wells so near their neighborhood, while the oil and gas producer attempted to quell their anxieties with promises of dirt berms and shrubbery.

As I remember, the aesthetic properties of several species of shrubbery were discussed, as was the noise pollution associated with a 24/7 drilling project. However, it was the topographical map of the development that caught my eye. I noted the elevation of the site, and how the wells would be located in the Cache La Poudre watershed.

 I then asked the commission: where were the objective third-party assessments for 100-year or even 20-year flood risk? Neither side had addressed this aspect; as though the possibility of a catastrophic flood in our arid climate was too remote to consider. My concern was ignored, and the motion to drill these wells was unanimously approved by Greeley City Council on May 7, 2013.

Four months later, the rains came. Colorado saw the worst floods since 1976. Tisha Schuller,  COGA President and CEO, misled the public, saying there were absolutely no leakages from oil and gas wells during the flood.

Eyewitness accounts, including my own, observed a different reality. Some wells were leaning or bobbing like huge, insane corks in the moving water. Were they leaking crude oil? Or maybe toxic produced water? It was a chilling sight, and I dreaded the news to come.

Now, receding waters have allowed experts to comprehensively assess the damage. Two weeks ago, state officials discovered a fifteenth well that had spilled into the South Platte River during the floods. This discovery brings the total estimated amount of oil and gas spilled into the Platte to approximately 43,000 gallons.

These highly toxic and flammable gallons of spilled oil may seem like “small potatoes” to some, but they degrade much slower than the biohazards caused by human waste. In addition to the leaked oil, experts estimate that over 26,000 gallons of “produced water” also spilled into the Platte (COGA). This wastewater is the product of the hydraulic fracturing drilling process, and may be much more hazardous than the spilled oil.

Though “produced water” sounds harmless, it contains not only residuals of oil and gas, but many toxic chemicals. Benzene and ethyl-benzene are known to mutate human DNA; they are especially harmful to unborn babies because they can cause birth defects when absorbed into the mother’s bloodstream. Benzene is a known carcinogen in humans; it can cause lymphoma and other blood cancers. Ethyl-benzene, xylene, and toluene are toxic to human blood, kidneys, liver, and the central nervous system.

If the presence of these chemicals is not alarming enough, produced water often contains arsenic, chromium, boron, barium, and other heavy metals that are hazardous when ingested. While farmers are justly concerned about possible contamination from leaked sewage, these metals do not break down naturally like human waste does.

 Since its inception as Union Colony, Greeley’s farsightedness with regard to water has been one of very careful stewardship. We have set ourselves apart in defining prior appropriation laws, and our municipal wastewater processing plant has state-of-the-art technology. Greeley has water resources that other Front Range communities openly covet. Water is our legacy, and we are poisoning that legacy by allowing oil and gas wells where they clearly do not belong."

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Here an impression of who Tisha Schuller is. Comments taken from her blog,  Red Tie, Green Heels.

"..As our personal story unraveled, a public one of oil and gas safety evolved as well, spurred on by unrelenting fractivists delighted by the opportunity to create a national story out of half-truths and straight up lies. Despite rumors of everything from massive toxic waste spills (never happened) to tens of thousands of lost wells (that didn't happen either), Colorado's oil and gas industry proved itself extraordinarily prepared, able to respond in real time, and deeply committed to Colorado’s recovery now, and for the long haul. 

The vast majority of sites had no spills. Six hundred sites were safely put back online within a few days, leaving 1,300 wells shut in. And spill volumes were tiny when put in context: Hundreds of billions of gallons of rainwater 220 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage 45,000 gallons of oil and gas. 

I still find myself wondering why fractivists were so eager for a massive environmental disaster when so many families were and are still experiencing real tragedies." 

Greeley Tribune on oil spilled: 'Small Potatoes'

From the Greeley Tribune which in its print edition headline dared call the spills "Small Potatoes". That is their choice of words. When you read the article you will find that no official ever said the spills are  'insignificant' either, or else Dunn could have, should have quoted them.

"While the new estimate of oil released from flood-damaged tanks has grown to almost 35,000 gallons, officials believe it really is just a minute part of a much bigger problem. Floodwaters quickly became a toxic soup of wastewater, raw sewage, industrial and household chemicals, agricultural waste and chemicals rushing downstream.  

Oil and gas releases, officials said, have been so small it’s almost immaterial. “There were likely hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage, and that is the larger public health concern,” said Mark Salley, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment..."

But, at least the "hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage.." are biodegradable. Not so much the oil, and remember that 1 gallon of oil contaminates 1000 gallons of water. So, 35,000 gallons of oil has the potential of polluting 35,000,000 gallons. That is significant!

Gary Wockner, Colorado Director of Clean Water Action shared this:

"The more we know, the worse it gets, and it's not over yet. The State of Colorado needs to continue inspecting and reporting, and then testing water and soil for contamination. The industry needs to clean it up and be held accountable. Afterwards, the State needs to initiate new rules for drilling and fracking near rivers and in floodplains to avert this kind of disaster in the future." -- Gary Wockner, Clean Water Action

Who could argue with that, since spills keep occurring even when the weather is not to blame. The Greeley Tribune regularly shares spill reports. Read a recent one here.

  

South Platte Oil Spill Near Milliken

MILLIKEN —Oil and gas releases from 10 different sites in flooded areas of Colorado are being tracked by state and federal regulations. Two of the releases were "significant" and the remaining eight are being classified as minor, according to an update from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Minor spills are considered sheens coming off of a piece of equipment rather than a measurable volume of petroleum product. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. reported two releases Wednesday: a release of 125 barrels — about 5,225 gallons — into the South Platte near Milliken and a release of 323 barrels — about 13,500 gallons — from a tank farm on the St. Vrain River near Firestone.

Read more: Denver Post - State Now Tracking 10 Oil and Gas Spills in Flood Zone

Also view this picture gallery provided by the Denver Post.

Colorado floods cause oil and gas spills

A typical gas well, positioned too closely to the river, and homes. 

According to a study in Colorado that sampled air quality over the course of three years, people living within a half-mile of an oil or gas well were exposed to a number of toxic chemicals including benzene, a known carcinogen. VOC levels measured five times the safety limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

"For children, the potential cancer risk is a serious consideration. They are more sensitive, exposed at younger ages and for longer periods of time," said Lisa McKenzie, lead researcher on the study at the Colorado School of Public Health.

 See: Gas Wells Poisoning Children's Air 

Confirmed 5,250 Gallon Oil Spill in South Platte River

A Greeley member of Weld Air and Water was asked by the EPA District 6 Response Team to send photos of toppled tanks along with photos of  their corresponding well placards for identification purposes. He shares,

"I've been doing my best. Today an operator from Wise Interventions Services [an oil field services provider] yelled at me to get off of private property. I told him he may own mineral rights but the surface rights are owned by the farmer across the way. After that, four guys along with him blocked the placard. I asked, "If there is nothing wrong, why can't I photograph the placard?" They all started yelling, and approaching me. I thought it was time to leave as I was alone in a farm field and didn't want to be tilled under."

This spill can pollute up to 5,250,000 gallons of water, but......

Governor Hickenlooper said late Thursday there is a lot of water to dilute pollutants, including oil, in the South Platte.

 "When you look at the amount of water flowing through that river, it will process these pollutants very, very rapidly," 

Source: Colorado Flooding Triggers Oil Spills, Shutdowns 

MILLIKEN — Industry crews have placed absorbent booms in the South Platte River south of Milliken where at least 5,250 gallons of crude oil has spilled from two tank batteries into the flood-swollen river. The spill from a damaged tank was reported to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Wednesday afternoon by Anadarko Petroleum, as is required by state law.

Too late for floating booms; most oil went downstream!

State officials have responded to the spill site, which is south of Milliken near where the St. Vrain River flows into the South Platte. The flood that began late last week toppled dozens of oil and gas storage tanks and swamped other production facilities at sites in the flood plain. Earlier this week, oil drums, some empty, some full, could be seen floating in the river as far east as Kersey.

"This is the first specific incident where we have a clear indication of the problem," state natural resources spokesman Todd Hartman said. State authorities don't know when this spill happened, Hartman said. Weld County authorities on Saturday said at least one oil and gas industry pipeline had broken and was leaking into the South Platte. County officials did not provide a precise location for the broken pipeline. They said at least two other pipelines were compromised as they sagged in flood-saturated soils. Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action said in a statement Wednesday night that the spill "exemplifies the danger" of drilling and fracking in floodplains." ~ Denver Post: 5,250 gallons of oil spills into South Platte River

Watch a segment about the Colorado flood, and the oil spill on the Rachel Maddow show.

See photos of the spill by EcoFlight