Volunteers Sought for Quality of Life Study

Researchers at the University of Colorado are looking for volunteers to participate in a study on how people respond to oil and gas development in their communities.

"Your participation should take no more than 1 hour at a time for up to 6 visits to our office in Greeley over a 6-9 month period. During the office visits, we will ask questions about your health, collect height and weight data, measure blood pressure and blood vessel health, collect a blood sample, collect a small hair sample, and collect cheek cells from the inside of your mouth with a swab.

You will be compensated with a $30.00 Visa gift card for each visit completed. In order to qualify for this study you must meet the following criteria:

 18 years old or older
 live within 2 miles of an oil or gas well
 be a non-smoker (tobacco and marijuana)
 cannot live with anyone who regularly smokes in your home
 cannot be pregnant
 cannot have a history of diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or chronic     inflammatory diseases
 cannot be taking statins or any anti-inflammatory medications
 cannot be regularly exposed dust, fumes, or solvents 

If you would like to participate in this study, or have any questions, call 970-829-7490 or email lindsay.taylor@ucdenver.edu

Project Title: QBC Study: Quality of Life and Biomarkers in Communities
Principal Investigator: John Adgate PhD, MSPH
Version Date: 8/12/15

Drilling in Evans Neighborhood

Noble Energy and other oil companies want people to believe they are caring stewards of the environment, as shown in this video. But how caring are they when they drill smack in the middle of this Evans, CO neighborhood, just 100 feet from the closest home, and 1,000 feet from Ann Heiman Elementary School? (Scroll down for photos)

I doubt the people who live there knew that would be a possibility, because a well head existed before they moved in. Few people realize that putting in a new well is not the end of drilling.  Often wells need to be stimulated into producing again with hazardous substances like hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid; chemicals you do not want in your neighborhood! Plus, there is the danger of a blowout .

Of note too is this

Toxic vapors suspected in deaths of three Colorado oil and gas workers


The article stays mum on the likelihood that those deaths might be caused by dangerous hydrogen sulfide that can kill within minutes.

What happens when that gas escapes in large quantities? What if such a well has a blowout such as the one in China in 2003 that killed more than 200 people and hospitalized 4,000! See:

Tragedy of errors in Chongqing's gas blowout  

And this! 

Children can suffer DNA damage and illness from leaking sour gas several kilometres away, yet B.C. allows wells within 150 metres of schools


It is appalling and beyond the pale, especially when more and more findings show that less lethal gases that escape are really hazardous to people's health as well!

Fracking may affect air quality, human health  "People living or working near active natural gas wells may be exposed to certain pollutants at higher levels than the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for lifetime exposure. Air pollution from fracking operations may pose an under-recognized health hazard to people living near them, the researchers concluded."   

(Photos: Robert Winkler)

West of 35th ave and north of 37th st, Evans.

Noble Energy "Community Gardening" TV Commercial

Gas Fumes Force Family Out

The article in The Post Independent below is no longer accessible under its original link (I think!) Try it here:   Silt Mesa family claims gas fumes forcing them out

But luckily I found the content here. In case that disappears too, I have posted the article below:


SILT, Colorado - One of the most vocal critics of gas drilling activities in the Silt Mesa area has been told by a doctor that she and her family have to move for their health's sake.Beth Strudley, her husband, Bill, and their two sons have been house shopping for weeks, after one of the sons reportedly began suffering from severe rashes, nose bleeds and blackouts.

But it was not until Dec. 28 that she got confirmation of her fears from a Grand Junction physician, Dr. Joseph Wezensky of Kokopelli Health & Wellness, said Beth Strudley." He said, 'Get out of that house, now!'" Strudley reported."Our water's screwed, the air is screwed, we have to leave our house," she said on Monday, during a break in the meeting of the Garfield County commissioners.

"We have to get out of Silt Mesa." 

Strudley has been protesting plans by Antero Resources to drill for gas in the area north of Interstate 70 known as Silt Mesa and Peach Valley, which is where she and her family have lived for four years, maintaining that the gas drilling is compromising air and water quality in the area.

Downplaying the concerns and fears expressed by Strudley and other residents of Garfield County in recent years, the industry has maintained that their activities are closely regulated by the state government and do not pose health hazards to nearby residents. The industry position is that there is no conclusive evidence of illness due to a person's proximity to gas wells that have been hydraulically fractured, or frac'ed, despite more than 60 years of the practice in various gas-rich parts of the United States.

In 2005, Strudley told the Post Independent, she called the offices of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and was told "they'll never drill for gas on Silt Mesa." She said she was told that one gas drilling company had done some testing in the late 1980s and concluded that it was not an economically viable location for extracting natural gas.

But new drilling techniques brought Antero into the neighborhood last summer, and Strudley has been protesting against the drilling rigs, the service trucks and the industry in general ever since. Her most highly public effort involved posting large signs in her yard that proclaimed, "Antero Is Going To Poison Our Water," among other warnings."Unfortunately, that bloody sign, everything I have on it has come true," she said.

William Strudley, 13, was the first to show symptoms, beginning with severe nosebleeds that his mom said could only be stemmed by putting Tampon feminine napkins up his nose. He then developed a persistent rash over much of his body that itches and burns.Then, two weeks ago, his mother said, he passed out in the bathroom for no apparent reason. In the meantime, her other son, Charlie, 11, has begun showing the same symptoms, as have she and her husband."I have to buy a new box of Tampons," Strudley said with a flash of humor. "Everybody's been using them."

Speaking to the Board of County Commissioners, she said, "My son, our whole family, has been chemically poisoned by the toxic fumes that Antero Resources is enveloping Silt Mesa in, on a daily basis, since Aug. 9, 2010," when Antero put up its first rig in the area. "Silt Mesa is becoming the sad twin sister of Divide Creek," she told the commissioners, referring to another part of Garfield County that has seen intensive gas drilling activities.

In her statement, Strudley cited the case of Chris Mobaldi, a former resident of Garfield County who lived south of Rifle. She died last year of a rare pituitary tumor that she, her husband and a family doctor felt was related to her exposure to gas drilling activities.

"The rest of the world is watching in horror of what you are allowing to happen," she admonished the commissioners, adding that Wezensky told her that living where she is living "is on a fast track to all kinds of cancers."This, I believe, is now your problem to fix," she declared. "You need to get Antero Resources away from our homes and families. Well, what are you going to do? How are you going to stop my son from dying?"

The commissioners did not respond to Strudley's remarks, but called on the next speaker on the meeting's agenda.

By John Colson: jcolson@postindependent.com

Declining Air Quality Danger to Children

See why our air is not safe to breathe! I would like to see FLIR footage of all installations in Greeley!

"I have lived in Greeley my entire life. I have been an RN here for twelve years and work with women, infants and children. To reiterate what the respiratory therapist and Doctor Montes said, there are a lot of peer reviewed, scientific articles which are the type of information that we are to consider as factual,.. and so there is evidence that shows a danger from the declining air quality and I know that I am personally going to see the effects of that when I care for the children in town. 

The American Nurses Association's stance on oil and gas development is...to follow the precautionary principle. The burden of proof that something is safe, is on the industry, not on the citizens...To me, having these setbacks from a school, that seems very reasonable, very doable, and like a baby step to keep our children safe.... 

Yes, the jobs and the economy in Greeley are amazing,...but if we don't have healthy citizens, really what good is that? I personally think the government's number one priority is to protect the health of its citizens..."

 See the recorded testimony to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Committee below.

Attend Hearing: Support Children of Frontier Elementary

Please attend and invite others to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Committee hearing on

 

Monday, July 28 at 9:00am

 Weld County Administration Building Events Center

 1150 “O” Street, Greeley, CO 80631 

Please arrive by 8:45am. Comments will be taken until 11:00am

This hearing is a rare opportunity for Front Range citizens to be heard directly by the COGCC.

It is critical for as many concerned citizens as possible to come tell the COGCC that school children should be protected from hazardous, polluting drilling operations near their schoolyards and homes.
They need to hear what you think of the job they are doing under their mandate to protect public health and safety.

This is your chance to tell them about how this scale of oil and gas development has impacted your, or your loved ones' life and be heard about concerns such as:

 1) Public health and safety concerns - drilling near homes and schools exposes the public to higher levels of benzene and other hazardous chemicals. Recent tank explosions should be reason enough to move these industrial facilities away from where people live!

 2) Pressure tactics put on mineral rights owners to lease their property against their will - Forced pooling allows operators to take away our right to choose whether or not our property should be developed for oil and gas. Oil and gas development hurts property values.

 3) The heavy concentration of wells and tanks they have approved next to homes, schools and commercial districts in Greeley and Weld County – large industrial sites do not belong in residentially-zoned land!

Comments should be short—three minutes or less.

 Please share this message and invite friends, neighbors or family to the hearing as well!

Parents Ask Community for Input Against Drilling Near School

A message from the Frontier Parent Group. Receive  their Instruction Letter Action Alert with more information by emailing:  fpg.parentgroup@gmail.com 

Please help us to protect our school and our community...

Our children deserve a safe, healthy, noise and pollutant free

 environment to study and learn!

"The new Mineral Resources proposal [to drill near Frontier Academy] is for 19 wells, 20 tanks and 19 separators. Plans show the site to be 1,512 ft from the school building and a little over 1,000 ft from the playground. On 6/16/14 Mineral Resources filed a location assessment permit (form 2a) with the COGCC – Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. This file is being reviewed by COGCC and is currently open for public comment.

We are asking parents, concerned community members, grandparents, local business owners, people who shop at local businesses (the proposed well site is 586 ft away from Walmart), anyone concerned, to VOICE their CONCERNS to COGCC via their online comment form.

The only way we will be able to be effective is if people show their involvement and worries for this location. Please, if you have any concerns with this location, now is the time to voice it! Your comment will become part of the public record of the application. Your name and e-mail address, if entered, will not be visible to other public users.

The deadline for comment is July 28.

Click on South Greeley Directional File # 400604803 to access it. After a few seconds you will be redirected to the correct page, then click on comment on the right, and then New Comment to add your own.


On 7/1/14 Mineral Resources filed for the USR (Use by Special Review) with the City of Greeley. The file is under review and a hearing date will be determined.

Smelling Fumes Makes Me Fume!

My grandson's back yard, 1/4 mile from a gas well

I was appalled and quite concerned a week ago when I caught whiffs of petroleum on the breeze that came in my son's open windows in south west Greeley. I smelled it too in his back yard when we stood by my grandson's swing set! They live just 1/4 mile away from one of Noble Energy's big well pads that has a gigantic flare stack which burns off the so-called 'sour'gas, a euphemism for the dangerous Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) which can be lethal. It was quite breezy that early evening so it's all the more surprising that the fumes were even noticeable!

• Researchers in Canada have measured more than 60 air pollutants downwind of natural gas flares. (Sources of Oil and Gas Air Pollution)

• "..Many of the substances emitted by flaring, incineration and venting can affect humans, animals, plants and the environment. Effects depend on the magnitude, duration and frequency of exposure, as well as the susceptibility of the individual organism or environment"

•  "..there is no question that high enough concentrations of petroleum-related emissions could affect the respiratory health, vision and skin of humans and animals. Exposure to some VOC and PAH substances increases the likelihood of cancers." ~ Source: Flaring Questions and Answers

The giant flare stack

Whose brilliant idea was it to put picnic tables near the site?

Oil and Gas: Effects on Children's Health

Are you still unclear about the fracking process, and the health risks it poses to people, but especially to babies and young children, who live in close proximity to wells? 

The yellow link below leads to an informative 40 minute presentation by Jerome Paulson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine. It is provided by the Center for Environmental Health. The program starts about five minutes in so as to skip the introduction. Photo courtesy of Our Health, Our Future, Our Longmont. 

 "Unconventional Natural Gas Extraction and Special Vulnerabilities for Children"


.

Also see "Drilling vs. the American Dream: Fracking impacts on property rights and home values"


"Realtors in Colorado are taking note as clients become increasingly hesitant about buying homes near drilling sites, with fewer and fewer bids rolling in. “Some don’t want to even look at anything remotely close to any existing or proposed well sites,” Boulder County real estate agent Nanner Fisher told the Colorado Independent. She also told Boulder iJournal that “if there is a well that’s visible when you show a property, [the prospective buyer] will ask to look for something else. A lot of it is the visual effect of the well site,” she said. “And, they think if you can see it, it’s gotta be close enough that it’s not healthy.”

What Will it Take to Stop the Drilling inside Towns?

Imagine the impact it would have if we all would commit to speak out publicly, even just once, against the practice of oil and gas drilling near homes and schools, and in flood plains too! The short video below features Wes Wilson and Phil Doe who felt compelled to come to Greeley last year, to address the city council and implore them to deny drilling near homes, schools, and the Sheep Draw stream. 


"People are going to have to get some courage, get some bravery, and give up some of their time and speak out about this because our leaders aren't compelled to act." ~ Broomfield mom

Post by Years of Living Dangerously.

Chance to Speak out Against Drill Site Near Frontier!

Mineral Resources, Inc. wants to place a large oil and gas drilling operation just 478 feet away from the Frontier playground, but the explosion near Lucerne proves that oil and gas wells near homes and schools are a recipe for disaster! Even if there is no calamity, there are still fumes emitted from the tanks and separators that are harmful to all in close proximity, especially young children!


In April, the Greeley Planning Commission will very likely grant the permit that will impact you and your children’s health and safety, unless parents and residents show their outrage, and show up in large numbers to speak out against it!

April 22 at 1:15 p.m.
Council Chambers of the Lincoln Park Annex building,
919 7th St.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission already gave their approval to place up to 67 wells with 32 oil tanks, and 30 separators on the site! Click here. Make sure Greeley does not lend theirs!

Learn why you should be concerned about Oil & Gas drilling in your neighborhood, or by your children’s school, and speak out against drilling at the upcoming public hearing!

The proposed South Greeley Directional Project at 27th Ave. & 30th St. next to Frontier Academy and Walmart. Marker A is the location of the well bore.

19 wells
24 oil storage tanks (red dots)
19 separators (yellow stripes)

This photo left shows only 8 oil storage tanks. The pad near Frontier will have three times as many!

 

There will be 19 separators, about the same number as can be seen on the photo right. They all emit harmful VOCs that anyone in such close proximity will inhale.




Also see: Where Do the Children Play
               67 Gas Wells Planned Near Frontier School and Walmart

Last but not least, a recent health study shows:

"an association between density and proximity of natural gas wells within a 10-mile radius of maternal residence and prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects and possibly Neural Tube Defects. [Most children with neural tube defects die or experience serious disability.] Access the report here.

Notice on the photo below that even the kids at Brentwood Middle School are still only half a mile away from the toxic emissions!

Colorado Says YES to Strict Air Emission Rules for Drilling!

An important, and long overdue decision, because, consider this from an alarming story published in 2012 in The Nation. Full text here.

"At almost every stage of developing and operating an oil or gas well, chemicals and compounds can be introduced into the environment. Radioactive material above background levels has been detected in air, soil and water at or near gas-drilling sites. Volatile organic compounds—including benzene, toluene, ethylene and xylene—waft from flares, engines, compressors, pipelines, flanges, open tanks, spills and ponds....inhalation exposure is linked to cancer and organ damage."

From the Greeley Tribune: Colorado panel OKs new oil, gas drilling emissions rules

AURORA — Colorado air quality officials have approved a sweeping plan to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling. The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted 8-1 Sunday to enact new rules for drillers, including the nation’s first statewide limit on methane emissions. The panel’s decision comes after a public hearing in Aurora that began Wednesday. State officials say the updated rules will dramatically reduce emissions of the gases that contribute to ozone pollution.

“This is a great day for residents living in the oil and gas producing areas in Colorado. The new regulations will significantly reduce air pollution that causes ground-level ozone and those hazardous pollutants that are also known to cause impacts to public health.” said Sara Barwinski, a member of Weld Air and Water, who also testified during the hearing on Friday.

In addition to the limits on methane, the rules require companies operating in Colorado to install the latest valves and auto-igniters to minimize emissions of toxic gases. Companies would have to capture or control 95 percent of emissions, using vapor-recovery tanks or other technology.

Companies also would have to inspect facilities for leaks up to once per month, depending on how many tons of pollution the facilities emit. Leaks would have to be fixed in about 15 days. The state has conservatively come up with a $42.5 million price tag for those in the industry to comply with the rules, while others believe it will be much higher, potentially $100 million per year.

Large energy producers have backed the plan, though some industry groups say the new rules unfairly burden small companies. “Oil and gas operators in Colorado strive to protect the health and safety of our communities and environment every day; after all, these are the communities where we are raising our families,” said Doug Flanders, director of policy and external affairs for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, in a news release.

“The new rules accomplish much, which we support. Unfortunately, we were not successful in ensuring that the rule accommodates the differences in basins and operators. Nevertheless, we are committed to working with our operators, our communities and the state to successfully and effectively implement these rules.” 

Three of the largest operators in Weld County and Colorado at large — Anadarko Petroleum, Noble Energy and Encana — expressed support for the rules earlier this month, while the commission was in the process of formulating the requirements.

“This proposal represents a model for the nation, by demonstrating … we all can develop solutions together,” said Robin Olsen of Anadarko during a meeting with media earlier this month. “We recognize the … regulations in Colorado help establish accountability for all companies, and builds public trust. It’s the right thing to do for business and the environment. It’s ambitious and sensible.”

 Added Curtis Rueter, a manager with Noble: “We all want clean air, we want to find leaks and we think the technology is there. And, ultimately, it’s the right thing to do.” Korby Bracken, environmental health and safety director for Anadarko, said the rules need not carry huge price tags for smaller companies. He said there are tools available to all oil and gas companies through the Regional Air Quality Control Council, for example, through which operators can check out an infrared camera like a library book.

Platteville-based Synergy Resources, one of the smaller oil and gas operators, signed off on the rules while they were being constructed earlier this month. “We see it as a part of the cost of doing business, with wanting to be good neighbors and keep the environment safe,” said Craig Rasmuson, COO of Synergy’s self-inspection program, earlier this month.

Barwinski also praised the cooperation between the energy industry and environmentalist groups to establish the new rules. “The fact that oil and gas companies — both large and small — supported these rules shows that the industry can comply with strong environmental controls that protect public health and still make money in Colorado,” Barwinski said in the news release. “This collaborative process should be a model moving forward.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper issued a statement Sunday evening on the passing of the new rules. “Colorado is proving once again that collaboration and compromise help solve important issues facing our state,” Hickenlooper said in a news release. “The new rules approved by Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission, after taking input from varied and often conflicting interests, will ensure Colorado has the cleanest and safest oil and gas industry in the country and help preserve jobs.”

Hickenlooper will talk about the new rules at a Tuesday news conference at the state Capitol, where he will be joined by representatives from the environmental community and the energy industry. “We want to thank the environmental community, the energy industry and our state agencies for working together so hard to take this significant step forward,” Hickenlooper said in the release. “All Coloradans deserve a healthy economy and a healthy environment, and we’re working to ensure that Colorado continues to have both.”

Public Hearing on Colorado Air Quality

On her blog Every Breath You Take, Axum Teklu writes,

"Seeing ozone alert after ozone alert on the news doesn’t make me proud to call Colorado home.

During the meeting last [October] I could hear the fear and worry in peoples’ voices as they pleaded for the commission to protect their health and most of all their childrens’ 

...The wells, storage, and transportation portion of oil and gas produces 168,837 tons of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) per year and is the number one human-caused VOC emitter. The combination of these VOCs with heat from the sun causes ground-level ozone, which negatively affects our health.. 

The Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) has the chance to protect our Colorado air by drafting strong regulations on pollution emitted by oil and gas development".

------------------------------------------

A Rulemaking Hearing is planned for February 19, 2014 

The Commission will have a designated time to take public comment from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM and from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM for participants that are appearing in person. This is designated for oral comments only.

Written and/or electronic documents must be submitted to the Commission Office by closure of the Public Comment Session or by February 19, 2014.

 Written submissions should be mailed to: 
Colorado Air Quality Control Commission
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South,
 EDO-AQCC-A5 Denver, Colorado 80246

Email submissions should be emailed to: cdphe.aqcc-comments@state.co.us 

TELEPHONIC PARTICIPATION

The Commission will have a designated time of 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM for participants who are calling in. Each caller will be given a maximum of three minutes. The amount of time may be reduced based upon the number of participants. This phone-in option is intended for persons outside of the Denver Metro Area/Front Range Region who cannot attend in person.  Participants will need to pre-register for this call-in session no later than February 14, 2014. You will be asked to provide the following information: your name, your address, your phone number, an email address if applicable, and the name of a particular group that you may be representing if applicable.

Registration link: https://jsp.premiereglobal.com/webrsvp/register?conf_id=8290071

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See: Health issues related to fracking
        Hazardous Emissions

Here a sample letter for inspiration:

"It is in our best interest to have statewide air quality protections so Coloradans across the state can breathe the same clean air. Oil and gas development is moving at a record pace - on average, nearly four new wells are drilled per day. It is no coincidence that as oil and gas development increases, Colorado’s air worsens. Air pollution from oil and gas operations is a statewide issue. Most of Colorado’s Front Range violate EPA ozone pollution standards and parts of the West Slope are for the first time exceeding the same EPA air quality standards."

And this one: http://frackcity.blogspot.com/p/i-was-not-impressed-when-i-attended.html

Greeley Planners Recommend Capture of 98% VOCs!

With hundreds of oil and gas wells inside our city, we all, at one time or another, get to inhale harmful VOC's that escape from them. (You can only see them with an infrared camera as in this illustration).
Our city council needs to hear that we want those well sites to be as safe and harmless as possible. One critically important recommendation from Greeley city planners is to require installing 98% emissions containment equipment on every pad.

 If you have not spoken out at a city council meeting before, it is imperative to do so now! We all must! We owe it to the children in Greeley who are especially  vulnerable to those toxins escaping from oil and gas installations!

Please join Weld Air and Water and others at the next City Council meeting,

Tuesday, December 17, 6:30 pm at 919 7th Street.

To see all recommendations scroll down to page 30 after clicking the link below.

Review Oil and Gas Local Land Use Regulations

Greeley featured on Fox 31News

Greeley residents go to city hall to fight proposed fracking operation 

GREELEY, Colo. — Residents in Greeley got together to fight what they say is a large fracking operation that wants to set up operations in their neighborhood. Sara Barwinski moved back to Colorado a few years ago. “We love living here,” she said. “We’ve had hawks, eagles, you name it.”

In that time some things in her neighborhood haven’t changed, and then there are the things that are about to. “There would be 32 tanks to support it. That’s how much volume those tanks present. That’s an industrial complex in the middle of the neighborhood,” Barwinski said.

In 2008 Synergy Corporation opened a fracking operation with six small tanks and minor impact on the neighborhood. But now the company wants to build a much larger operation requiring the approval of the Greeley City Council. Neighbors’ biggest concern is that the project is just 400 feet from Northridge High School. Left with few alternatives, Tuesday night Barwinski and an army of neighbors took their case to city hall begging the city of Greeley to stop the project.

All neighbors voiced the same worries – that they have too little information about the potential environmental impact, not to mention the public health concerns. “That school track is 411 feet from the wellheads and we don’t know what emissions come out of these.”

The central issue the city council must decide is whether the project is an industrial one that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Synergy corporation argues that the project is not heavy industrial and that they have gone above and beyond to satisfy neighbors’ concerns.

Residents Against More Wells Near School And Houses

Weld Air and Water joined 15 Greeley residents in filing an appeal this week to stop increased drilling within a high residential neighborhood, adjacent to Northridge High school, and on a ridge that slopes into the Sheep Draw waterway and wetlands. The proposal would add a twelve-well horizontal “fracking” operation on a site which already has six vertical wells.

The application by Synergy Resources Corporation was approved by the Planning Commission on July 23rd and has been scheduled for a public hearing before Greeley City Council on September 3rd. If approved, the application would allow for 25 condensate oil and gas tanks, 7 water tanks for flow-back water, and 17 separators; in addition to equipment (flares) to reduce the volatile organic compounds emitted.

What the site may look like during the drilling and fracking process.

Neighborhood resident, Sara Barwinski explains,

 “What really concerns us is the massive increase of heavy industrialization on the site. This size of industrial complex is simply not appropriate next to a school and near homes. We are not calling for a ban on existing operations—we are just asking for balance, and for the city to apply their own criteria that requires new applications to be compatible with surrounding land uses.” 

Therese Gilbert with Weld Air and Water (WAW) agrees.

“Weld Air and Water became involved because we want to help Greeley understand the options they have to restore sanity in planning around oil and gas decisions. City Council members and City Staff have stated that because Greeley lost the effort to ban oil and gas drilling back in 1992 that they have “no choice” but to approve any and all requests to drill. This simply is not true.” 

 The appeal by neighbors and Weld Air and Water outlines legal arguments and suggests that Greeley adopt regulatory approaches that are commonly used by other local governments throughout Colorado. According to Gilbert,

  “Greeley needs to strike a better balance between the goals of the oil and gas industry and the health, safety and welfare of Greeley residents.” 

 The group believes there are hopeful signs that Greeley residents and leaders are seeing a need for more balanced decision-making.

Weld Air and Water is encouraged that the City Council passed a petition on July 16 to take a closer look at the impacts of these fuel storage tanks in neighborhoods and whether there should be restrictions in the number allowed.

“We don’t think the City should move forward with this application until that analysis has occurred,” Barwinski stated.

Susan Rutherford is one of the nearest neighbors to the site. Last spring her entire neighborhood woke to a loud, shrill noise at 3:00 in the morning.

“I finally was able to figure out that it was coming from the oil and gas site because I could see a smoky cloud and the air smelled like a hot furnace,” Rutherford stated.

She called 911 and the whole operation was soon shut down. She was informed by the operator that the problem was a faulty gas pressure release valve. Rutherford believed the problem should have been caught by more frequent inspections.

“There had been periodic unexplained noises going on all day long before it finally reached that critical point. ..How can anyone believe that approving that kind of danger is protecting our health and safety?” 

Residents are also upset that the city has ignored the impacts that enlarging this industrial complex would have on the Sheep Draw trail and wetlands, which has been home to bald eagles, horned owls, hawks and other wildlife.

Patricia Gonzalez, a neighbor in the immediate vicinity explains,

“We have already seen great impacts on wildlife caused from the existing wells. The day after the 3:00 am “wake-up call” incident, a pair of hawks abandoned their nest. I am also very concerned about the odors that have increased and the fact that I see less and less wildlife when I walk the trail.. 

This is an area that is considered of “high” ecological significance. It is zoned as a conservation district and is considered part of the Cache la Poudre River corridor. City code states: development should be rejected unless it would have ‘little or no impact’ on this area. An accidental spill will flow down-hill into this vulnerable watershed contaminating it.”  

Rutherford adds,

 “Greeley and our concerned citizens are spending dollars and manpower to connect this beautiful part of the Sheep Draw to the Poudre River Trail in 2014—why wouldn’t we want to protect this investment?” 

WAW’s Gilbert is a teacher and shares a further concern,

“The track and field of Northridge High School is just over 400 feet from the well-heads, so our kids will be deeply inhaling the fumes when they exercise. I am also worried about the lack of security at this unmanned facility.” 

Synergy had an uncontrolled release in Mead last month that required an emergency response at 2:00 a.m. Synergy stated that it suspects that it was caused by teens tampering with equipment. This and other similar incidents around the country have persuaded Weld Air and Water to put forward a number of recommendations for conditions that should be attached to the permit, should the City Council decide to approve it

Gilbert continued,

  “The 24/7 drilling, increased truck traffic, odors, dust and toxic emissions are clearly not ‘compatible’ with a neighborhood.” 

She pointed to the fact the City Council rejected a coffee-shop in a neighborhood last month because citizens’ voiced concerns about possible increased traffic and noise from the commercial facility.

 “Our city government needs to understand that they have both the authority and the obligation to regulate the impacts of this heavy industry whose impacts are far worse than the impacts of a coffee shop.” 

The appeal argues that the site fails all of the City’s criteria for appropriate development and is not consistent with Greeley’s Comprehensive Plan for the future. Barwinski stated,

“If it was any other industry besides oil and gas they wouldn’t think twice about rejecting it. We want them to take the time to think through their legal options and their responsibility to Greeley citizens before making a decision that will impact us for decades to come.” 

OIL AND GAS ACCIDENTS IN THE NEWS 
Large tank batteries have come under greater scrutiny because of a serious explosion at a natural gas drill site on July 7 in West Virginia—two people died and five others were injured. The accident is under federal and state investigation. The company that operates the drill site, Antero Resources, claims in its report issued by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, that the cause of the blast was a buildup of gas in tanks used to store flow back water from the process of preparing the well for natural gas production.

The flow back process occurs during high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing—in which millions of gallons of water and chemicals are pumped deep underground to release natural gas from shale rock. According to the West Virginia Gazette, Antero said the accident was due to “the presence of an accumulation of gas from storage tanks on location.” The company also blamed “a concentration of heavier than methane hydrocarbons in the gas mixture” and “an apparent ignition source near” near the operation. 

The Chemical Safety Board (CSB), a federal agency, is encouraging local and state governments to take steps to protect young people from dangerous tank batteries related with oil and gas development. On October 31, 2009, two teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were killed when a storage tank containing natural gas condensate exploded at gas production site in Carnes, Mississippi. Six months later a group of youths were exploring a similar tank site in Weleetka, Oklahoma, when an explosion and fire fatally injured one individual. Two weeks later, a 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were on top of an oil tank in New London, Texas, when the tank exploded, killing the woman and seriously injuring the man.

 The CSB deployed investigators to all three sites to collect information on the incidents. They concluded: “The introduction of an ignition source (such as a match, lighter, cigarette, or static electricity) near tank hatches or vents can trigger an internal tank explosion, often launching the tank into the air and killing or injuring people nearby, the CSB found in its October 2011 study of the problem. The study identified a total of 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 members of the public and injured 25 others all under the age of 25.

The CSB’s safety recommendations urged states, standards organizations, and trade associations, to take action to protect members of the public – particularly children and young adults – from these hazards.” For more information and a video on the risks to teens see Oil Site Safety. Synergy has stated that it believes that teen vandalism may have caused one of its gas wells near Mead to vent natural gas at 2:00am at a rate that sounded like “a giant over-sized air compressor” according to a neighbor. Source: Greeley Tribune in Brief, SHERIFF’S OFFICE INVESTIGATES POSSIBLE TAMPERING AT MEAD-AREA GAS WELL, Greeley Tribune July 27, 2013.

Will the sun set for good over the Sheep Draw?

Sunset over the Sheep  Draw

Last evening I ran into a man walking his dog on the beautiful Sheep Draw trail, beside which 12 horizontally drilled gas wells are planned. He said he'd just watched a scary movie on HBO and mentioned 'water catching on fire', so I asked "Gasland 2?" Yes, he said.

The trail near Northridge HS, north of 4th Street.

South of the trail is Hunter's Cove subdivsion.

More than before, he now has concerns about air quality because he lives closest to the already existing 6 vertical wells across the stream. The well pad with six oil tanks, located higher up on a natural bank, borders the beautiful, snaking stream with marshland in which cat tails and other riparian plants thrive and form habitat for red winged black birds.

View of the site from the trail. Take a look with Google maps. Click  here.

The six existing oil tanks. Note venting tubes on top and housing nearby.

Old trees are a nesting place for hawks and eagles. The area is so serene that you will only hear the rustling of tall grasses and reeds in the breeze, and the song of the red-winged blackbirds, or an occasional shriek from a raptor. After sunset the fire flies dance among the reeds, and much later owls may be heard.

Unfortunately there is danger lurking in this pastoral scene. The man said he can smell the fumes from where he lives, and I believe him as walking the trail with my daughter, we caught whiffs of emissions that were not marsh smells. Clearly it comes from the two big flares and the four separators. The new plan, if approved, will add 13 more separators, and 19 more oil tanks which also vent fumes.

Visible from the trail, the separators and flares, fuming 24/7 

A decision to permit more drilling on the site should not be made before the planning commissioners or city council members have actually visited this place. It deserves their respect. If they were to see and experience it,  for these photos do not do it justice, all would be in awe. That is, unless as children they were never encouraged to see and enjoy the beauty of the natural world, as that would have instilled respect in them, and a commitment to care for it and protect it.

We in Greeley must help preserve that beautiful stretch of wetland and keep it from being ruined by the drilling of more wells, with additional separators, flares and oil or condensate tanks that give off toxic VOCs!

Contact Weld Air and Water to help prevent it.
Check out Frack Files on Facebook and the Facebook group Plains Alliance for Clean Air and Water

Where Do The Children Play?

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than
 the way in which it treats its children." 

 ~Nelson Mandela~

Remember that old Cat Stevens song, 'Where do the children play?' written in the 70s when urbanization devoured the natural spaces where kids used to play? A similar thing, but much worse, is happening now with the industrialization of towns, as multiple gas wells are drilled near homes, and schools!

Greeley already has over 400 gas wells and many more are planned. These installations with flares, gas separators and condensation tanks, emit noxious fumes that are unhealthy to breathe, and the 'flowback' water from fracking that needs to be disposed of contains harmful substances as well.

Dr. Theo Colborn and others found that 37% of the chemicals used during drilling, fracturing and production were found to be volatile, with the ability to become airborne.

Of those:

• 81% can cause harm to the the brain and nervous system
• 71% can harm the cardiovascular system and the blood
• 66% can harm the kidneys

So, where then will the children of Frontier Academy play  if the Greeley Planning Commission, and Greeley City Council allow 67 gas wells to be drilled just 350 ft away from their playground and garden?

Overview of the Frontier Academy playground and garden.  In the distance 

(center in photo) is the Walmart building.

Will it be safe for them to be outdoors during the 24/7 drilling process which involves fumes from diesel engines, lots of truck traffic, and later also the dangers of silica exposure from the many tons of sand needed for the fracturing?

Diesel engine at Island Grove .

After the wells are completed, 32 oil tanks and gas separators will be located only 500 ft away. It is shocking to think that our city council members condone this, and willfully ignore a study by Dr. Lisa McKenzie, that shows that people living within half a mile of just a single gas well are at higher risk for health issues, including cancer, than people living farther away.

Frontier gardening shed decorated with children's hand prints.

Frontier's kids and staff will be spending several hours a day within just one tenth of a mile radius of 67 wells, and so will many Walmart employees. Half a mile out from the site still reaches many residents who live in the Evans neighborhood, south of 32nd street, people shopping at the Greeley Mall, and even students attending Brentwood Middle School..

The Greeley Geographic Information Systems map below shows the proposed drill site as a red X and the half mile distance to Brentwood Middle School..

See what such a mega site will look like if we do not protest it!

• 67 Gas Wells Planned near Frontier School and Walmart

As a community we should do what we can to safeguard kids from the harm that can come from being too close to gas and oil wells.  Join Weld Air and Water to stay informed and take action.

Video Introduction to Dangers and Health Effects of Fracking

This half hour video presentation tells the story of a Texas couple whose property is surrounded by over 62 gas wells within a 2 mile radius. Is it any wonder these people are suffering health effects from such concentration of air pollutants?

Click on the title of the video: Fracking - Dangerous Contamination

If you want to get a real idea of the devastation caused by gas exploration, take a drive along Weld County Rd 49 from Kersey to Hudson! We always take that road for a speedy trip to DIA via E-470.

This morning, still dark, we could see some drill rigs in the distance, lit up by extremely bright, Klieg lights. In some areas along the way, likely because of the cool temperatures, we could catch whiffs of petroleum coming into the car. Some of the gas wells, with tanks, and flares, sit extremely close to homes! What must it be like to live there?

Bad as it is to have drilling going on, the worst is yet to

come in the form of  fumes that are constantly emitted once

 the well is in production. No landscaping can hide that!

The tall flare and the three black  'chimneys' of the
separators emit harmful VOCs and contribute to rising ozone
levels in a county that already exceeds the threshold for it!

 Look at this 'battery' of 28 oil storage tanks. Greeley- Evans
 residents near Walmart will get a similar view with 32 tanks!

Below is the proposed site for the 67 gas wells. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued permits for them on May, 31st, but Mineral Resources, Inc., the mining company that will drill the wells, still needs to get permission from the Greeley Planning Commission. Since health or environmental concerns are not taken into consideration the project will most certainly get the green light....unless it is massively protested! 

Zoom in here. "A" shows the location where the drill rig will be put up behind Walmart and Frontier Academy (grades K-6). Note the field on left that already has eight gas wells and tanks. On the south of 32nd street are several apartment buildings.

Here you see the schematic of where the 32 oil storage tanks (red dots), and 30 gas separators (yellow stripes) will be placed. Note the proximity of Frontier's playground in the upper left corner, a mere tenth of a mile away from any VOCs escaping from the separators. 

A study by the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado showed that,

"residents living less than 1/2 mile from wells are at greater risk for health effects from natural gas development (NGD) than are residents living farther than one half mile away." 

See Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources.