Is Fracking Safe?

How can it be?

There are 55,000 wells in Colorado with 22,000 in Weld County alone, and yet there are only 18 state inspectors.

See more oil field accidents here

There are more than

•  850 Notices of Alleged Violations 

• 600 Public Complaints. 

• 1,200 Spill Incident Reports  

See the database of the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC)




Learn the facts about Gas and Oil development at this upcoming free presentation by Robert R. Winkler, International Risk Management Professional.

November 19, 2014

from 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Leeper Center, 

3800 Wilson Ave, 

Wellington, CO

Co-Sponsored by

Weld Air and Water.
Food and Water Watch
Women's International for Peace and Freedom
Move To Amend
Frack Free Colorado
Renewable Energy Coalition of Colorado

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.”

COGCC Director Implies: Accept Fracking or Move!

Take note Greeley residents! If fracking will take place near your home or your child's school, you have choices according to Matt Lepore. Two, to be exact! Accept the situation, or move away!

Lepore, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, in a CBS Denver clip of May 13, "Community Confronts Controversial Fracking Operation In Greeley" that has since been removed, says: "The governor is listening. We're looking for reasonable solutions".

According to Lepore "the drill rigs were placed after a year of community input, all environmental concerns have been addressed, and the wells are here to stay"

CBS reporter Tom Mustin then asks him, "So what if they still have concerns about it? Is there anything they can do about it?"
Lepore shrugs and responds with "You know, they have choices"

In closing, Tom Mustin says that "Oil and Gas executives have approved another 67 oil wells to be dug here in Greeley; several are near a local school"

See:

Community Confronts Controversial Fracking Operation In Greeley -  May 13, 2014 1:20 PM

Largest well site in Greeley city limits gets approval

There's no doubt in my mind that the planning commission approved the site for the 57 wells, because almost half of that number is already in operation, near the intersection of U.S. 34 with U.S. 85. What the members must have forgotten to consider is that this site will now emit an even higher concentration of VOC's so the area will be much more hazardous to the health of many people, and especially young children, living nearby!

Plus, there is Union Colony elementary school within one mile of it! Those parents now should be as outraged as the ones of Frontier are, and show up in droves at the City Council meeting to share their outrage before the council, as they have always done so far, will unanimously give the expansion its seal of approval!

Take a look here to view the site (A) in relation to the school (B): http://goo.gl/maps/RZN7O

These storage tanks are already in place, as are 28 separators representing the same number of well heads.

Here's the Greeley Tribune article: Largest well site in Greeley city limits gets approval from Planning Commission

Mineral Resources Pulls Out Near Frontier,... For Now!

A note from Greeley City Planner Mike Garrott 

"..Mineral Resources has formally withdrawn the South Greeley Directional Project... [T]he hearing will not occur tomorrow [April 22nd] as scheduled. 

If they choose to move forward with another application in the future, they will be required to submit a new application in its entirety."  

This is good news indeed, but Mineral Resources keeps lurking in the background, and the concern for future drilling remains! I just read the following on the Facebook page (FPG) of concerned Frontier parents:

"FPG has been receiving a lot of emails of concern regarding the Tribune article just released. I spoke with Brad Mueller (City of Greeley) and he confirmed Mineral Resources plans on refiling a new application...
This statement is from Tyler Richardson in the email sent to the city withdrawing the proposal.

"...Mineral Resources will explore the concept of altering the configuration of the proposed use in order to increase the distance to the southerly property line of Frontier Academy to a minimum of 1000 feet. If the reconfiguration approval cannot be accomplished, we will reapply under the original USR criteria." . 

Greeley Ignores Criteria For Proper Planning

In the past seven months the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) issued permits for 181 oil and gas wells to be drilled and fracked in Greeley, but according to criteria in the city's 2020 Comprehensive Plan  the city council should deny them!

Take a look!

Land Use (LU4.3) Disallow high impact agricultural and heavy industrial land uses that generate obnoxious influences, such as noise, fumes, or hazards. ~ Page 197

From Source Watch Colorado and Fracking: A study conducted over three years by the Colorado School of Public Health concluded that fracking can contribute to “acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural gas drilling sites”... "The study found those living within a half-mile of a natural gas drilling site faced greater health risks than those who live farther away." Researchers located “potentially toxic petroleum hydrocarbons in the air near the wells including benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylene.” See: Health Effects

Environment (EN3.B) Disallow the establishment of any new businesses or industry which will create offensive outdoor odors. ~ Page 114

EN5.10 C) Carefully balance economic benefits from mining activities with the social cost related to the altered environment.~ Page 120

EN3 Air Quality - In order to protect and promote a healthy, pleasant, and economically viable community, the quality of the air must be improved to minimize offensive odors and have a minimum of pollutants. ~ Page 113

 EN3.2 Maintain full compliance with federal air quality standards and reduce stationary and mobile source emissions of pollutants with special emphasis placed upon efforts to reduce pollutants which cause adverse health effects and impair visibility.

From and article in the Denver Post: Oil and gas emissions now are the main source of volatile organic compounds in Colorado and the third-largest source of nitrogen oxides, at a time when a nine-county area around metro Denver is already failing to meet federal clean-air standards, state data show...State air monitoring has found that oil and gas sources currently emit at least 463 tons a day of smog-forming VOCs and 149 tons a day of nitrogen oxides — much of it in the ozone-prone Front Range corridor. Read more: Oil and gas air pollution

 EN3.5 Incorporate air quality objectives into the land use planning and development process by encouraging land use patterns which reduce travel and air emissions.

A) Evaluate all zoning and land use development requests for their impact on air quality. ~ Page 115

EN5.11 Maintain minimum setback and site design standards from oil and gas wells and tank batteries which protect the public’s interest through attention to safety and compatibility issues relative to adjacent properties.

EN6.7 Work with the Division of Wildlife on development in proximity to natural areas to assure sensitivity in the siting and design of urban features in key wildlife and related habitat areas. ~ Page 121

EN1.4 Consider wildlife movement corridors in the siting and development of urban uses to assure that native species are able to access habitats without human interference. ~ Page 111

EN8 View Shed and Important Corridors - In order to improve the area quality of life, enjoyment of community, and appreciation of natural resources, the City should promote the development of the community in such a way as to protect key view sheds and travel corridors and reflect in the built environment a sensitivity to the areas of environmental significance. ~ Page 123

EN8.1 Develop a list of important corridors and areas which carry environmental significance and/or visual appeal related to its natural features and establish special design treatments along such areas. Evaluate the following areas for inclusion on such a list:

A) Bluff area along northern edge of community;
B) Sheep Draw;
C) Ashcroft Draw;
D) Confluence of the Cache la Poudre & South Platte rivers;
E) “O” Street corridor;
F) Cache la Poudre River corridor; and,
G) U.S. Highway 34 corridor

EN8.3 Protect open lands in strategic areas within and around the community in order to provide visual relief from the urban landscape, preserve important vistas, and/or retain separation from other communities. ~Page 124

A) recognize the value in retaining agricultural crop land in acknowledgment of the community’s heritage and the opportunity for this land use to meet this strategy as long as Right-to-Farm protections are provided.

LU2.19 Residential development should be the primary land use adjacent to elementary, middle and high schools. Discourage zoning or development of property which diminishes residential population in an area which is supported by a neighborhood school, or which poses safety impacts to children.

LU4.2 In new site development residential uses should not be allowed adjacent to medium or high intensity industrial uses and zones to prevent unnecessary conflicts between such uses and to promote the expansion of industrial sites without undue hardship of needing to address mitigation or buffering treatments and impacts to residential and other low-impact uses. ~ Page 197

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.

Driving Out of Greeley is Depressing!!!

Leaving Greeley from any road these days is depressing! No matter if you go north, south, east, or west you see gas wells with tanks, separators, and flares that visually pollute the farm fields. Today my son took me via a scenic road south to Denver to visit the zoo with his son, my 2-1/2 year-old grandson. The country side south of 49th street was lush, and green with acres of corn stalks. Simply beautiful, as long as you tell yourself to ignore all the gas wells and tanks, left and right....and that is hard to do.

Once we were headed south on U.S. 85 we saw many more oil condensate tanks, but also new sites in the making, with drill rigs, and others where fracking operations are in full swing; you can tell when you see a field full of semi truck sized compressors that are needed to pressurize the water as it gets pumped into the well.

Clearly not a pretty sight, but appalling and stressful, really! I thought visiting the zoo with my grandson would give me a reprieve from the concerns of fracking, and it did once we got there. But oblivion was not to last very long as I noticed with dismay that some exhibits are named after corporate sponsors!  There's the Toyota Elephant Passage, the Gates Wildlife Conservation Education Center, the Janus Gateway center, the Conoco Zoo Gardens., and ....shocker of them all?

On the Denver Zoo website it says that

"Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has supported Denver Zoo through Do At The Zoo and Brew At The Zoo sponsorships since 2008. Beginning in 2013, Anadarko greatly expanded their involvement by presenting Denver Zoo's 2013 Do At The Zoo event in addition to providing educational, live animal community outreach programming in Weld County."

They also state:

"A special thank you to these Corporations [Encana is one of them too!] for their significant contributions...Corporate sponsor dollars are critical to Denver Zoo. These dollars are used to assist in the direct care and support of Denver Zoo’s animals and allows Denver Zoo to further its mission. Through these sponsorships, Denver Zoo continues to thrive and to carry out wildlife conservation and education for our community [while on the outside petroleum corporations like Anadarko and Encana are destroying our countryside and poisoning the air we breathe]"

Thankfully Greeley is getting more and more negative press. Perhaps because of that there's a glimmer of hope, as,

"The Colorado Oil and Gas Commission said neighbors’ concerns are one reason it hasn’t approved the wells yet."

See the CBS 4 News report with video interview with Sara Barwinski in which they say, "The city of Greeley is widely known as an oil and gas town." 

Coffee Shop Denied, Gas Wells Welcome!

From  Council shoots down proposed coffee shop near university 

Greeley City Council members on Tuesday (7/16) unanimously denied a proposal to convert a rundown corner market near the University of Northern Colorado into a coffee shop.

• ..residents who live closest to the site said they were concerned about the noise and traffic that could come from the shop..[They also] said a coffee shop is not compatible with the completely residential nature of the neighborhood..[Even] Greeley planners recommended that the city council deny the application based on the fact that the property should not be zoned commercial in a uniformly residential area..."City council members were receptive to the idea of the coffee shop, but said [the three] residents' concerns moved them to deny the proposal"

So, the coffee shop is denied, but they don't have any qualms about approving the placement of multiple gas wells within a residential zone close to houses and schools? What about the concerns of residents in Fox Run and near Northridge to have an industrial site spring up, with noise and traffic and unhealthy fumes? 

What about the concerns of more than forty people who spoke out against drilling in Fox Run on May 7th, at the city council's public hearing? Why did council members not care about any of those pleas? The same is true for the Planning Commissioners, save Eddie Mirick. After excellent and compelling testimony against putting in 12 horizontal wells in Northridge, near the Sheep Draw, all but Mirick voted in favor of the drilling.

Dunn's Done it Again!

Tribune reporter Sharon Dunn's article below shows bias for the gas and oil industry. Just compare it to what Bobby Magill wrote on the same subject for the Coloradoan .See: Fracking critics scaring public.
At least he shared the questionable comments by both Matt Lepore, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Weld County commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer. Dunn shared none!! 

Just as with the Health Forum on the Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing, when Dunn chose to leave out important information, like the dangers of ground level ozone, she this time, ignored Kirkmeyer's accusation that people with concerns about fracking,

"are trying to scare the crap out of everybody with the wrong facts and making things up".

 Dunn should have taken issue with that remark, considering it is Kirkmeyer herself who makes things up, claiming that groundwater is not being contaminated, when a presentation on the COGCC website clearly acknowledges that it has! See 2012 Fracking Spills.

(By Sharon Dunn)
LOVELAND — Fossil fuels will be the chief way America and the world will get its energy for years, and those in the industry must strike a balance between the incredible growth that is propping up the economy and the environmental concerns that follow, said the American Petroleum Institute’s senior economic adviser, Rayola Sougher. “What’s happening here is absolutely phenomenal,” Sougher said in an interview prior to her keynote address at the Energy Summit put on Tuesday by the Northern Colorado Business Report at the Ranch in Loveland.

“But there seems to be a big divide between the ... environmentalists and the oil developers. But they’re not mutually exclusive. We can do both. Everyone in the community has to hold the industry to the highest standards. That should not be negotiable.” The importance of the industry and continued innovation in extracting the resources has proven to be a powerful ally for the United States, not only politically, but for jobs and taxes that have helped build more wealth in the country, she said.

 In fact, America is experiencing a “stunning” energy revolution that is on pace to see the United States become a world leader and net exporter of oil and gas, some say as soon as 2030. “We were accustomed for decades of thinking that we had less oil, and have been making energy policy on that assumption. That entire vision has changed,” Sougher said. “There are millions of new jobs, a great deal of government revenue and it is enhancing energy security.” Last year alone, the United States put 1 million extra barrels of oil on the international market. That has translated to some of the best energy prices in the country, she said, saving American families roughly $926 a year in home energy costs.

 In the last decade, Colorado has seen a six-fold growth in natural gas production and triple the growth in crude oil production. In Colorado, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average energy bills here are 23 percent less than the rest of the nation, largely because of natural gas, Sougher said. “When you add up what you would have been spending, were it not for this technology, it has important repercussions for the family budget,” Sougher said. The technology she speaks of is the advent of hydraulic fracturing coupled with horizontal drilling to get at the resources trapped in the tight shale rock a mile beneath the ground.

She said continued innovation will only enhance production, and likewise enhance job growth. Sougher said this “unconventional drilling,” alone, is responsible for 1.7 million jobs across the country. “And by the end of this decade, that will be 3 million,” Sougher said. “It’s a significant driver of economic growth.” As an example, she pointed to the average wage in the oil fields of $116,000 — 91 percent above Colorado’s average wage. The industry also pumped $1.4 billion into the Colorado economy in taxes in 2011, equivalent to 15 percent of the state’s tax revenue.

 Sougher advocated for more development across the country to keep these numbers high, especially in offshore areas. She also advocated for completion of the XL Pipeline, a pipeline from Canada to the southern links of America’s oil trade hubs, which has been under scrutiny for five years. With more Canadian and U.S. oil entering into the international framework, she said, energy prices will stabilize, even when not-so-stable nations threaten the world’s oil supply.

 At the same time, she said, the industry must work in concert with government officials and residents concerned about safety. She said the industry, too, shares concerns about the environment. They’ve been stewards of best practices since World War I, she said. “We’re on a path now, because of a lot of these breakthroughs, to have 5 percent fewer emissions in 2040 than we had in our peak of 2005,” Sougher said. “A large part of that is the shift more toward natural gas and energy efficiencies. A good part of the credit has to do with technologic innovations.”

Mayor Says:"Fracking issue is separate from Use by Special Review".

No, it isn't!  Not when gas wells, and their accompanying condensate tanks, flares and separators are planned near houses, parks and nature trails! The mayor said it more than once, perhaps to justify his decision to allow gas wells in Fox Run. Council member Donna Sapienza tried justifying hers too when, after the vote and a short break in proceedings, she murmured to councilman Mike Finn beside her:

"I'm really threatened by them, but it was easier than I thought it would be, but..what I did to think this through, was the constant off topic stuff, but that was their point."

No, the point people tried to make at the special hearing on May 7th, is that drilling operations, and the production process of gas and oil, pose a hazard to people's health. An industrial site with hazardous substances, and waste products has no place in a residential area, and Greeley's 2020 Comprehensive Plan, "the official tool used to express a community vision.." certainly points to that: with these goals:

“Assuring the development of a safe and pleasant community; improving the visual appeal of the community;..[to] Disallow high impact agricultural and heavy industrial land uses that generate obnoxious influences, such as noise, fumes, or hazards." 

The amended version valid till 2060, states on page 8: 

“Quality of life” of a community takes into account... the image and visual appearance of the community"

And, on page 16: 

1 Seek economic growth in business sectors which maintain quality environmental practices which improve the area’s image and appeal (see also EC2C1a and EN5G3) 

2 Develop strategies to disallow, discourage and/or mitigate impacts from businesses unsuitable for an urban environment, or which produce a product or service which significantly detracts from the local image or quality of life and deters community investment (see also LU1C2)

With those guidelines/directives it is only right and logical, to deny placement of gas wells within residential areas, or where people and children spend time outdoors such as schoolyards, parks, and nature trails.

Who's Doing the Lying about Fracking?

Excerpts from an article in the Coloradoan, with my comments in orange

LOVELAND — "..Fracking detractors are trying to “scare the crap out of everybody with the wrong facts and making things up,” said Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, who was moderating the discussion between COGCC Director Matt Lepore and Anadarko regulatory affairs manager Brad Miller.

 “The problem we have, we have a group of folks on the other side who don’t care about the truth,” she said. “They’re out there saying all sorts of things about how it’s contaminating the groundwater, and, you know, that’s not true,” Kirkmeyer said.

Is she lying or merely ignorant of the real facts posted in a series of PowerPoint slides on the website of the the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission she's trying to defend? These numbers from 2012 do show there's been groundwater contamination.

What was spilled?

What was done about them?

And what to make of Matt Lepore's statement? 


"..residents “storm city hall and demand you protect their health, safety and welfare armed with misinformation,” [he]said Tuesday, speaking at the Northern Colorado Energy Summit."

As the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission he surely has seen, and also approved these slides! Here is one from another presentation, probably put up after Governor Hickenlooper took a sip of Frac Fluid!

He also said the following.

If you look at the demographics of anti-fracking activists, he said, they are generally affluent enough not to be concerned with the cost of home heating and cooling, he said.

Clearly, those who struggle to make a living are so bogged down in simply trying to survive that they have no time to get informed of anything of importance, including how gas and oil production may endanger their and their children's health.

 “A ban on fracking is really a ban on drilling,” he said. “A ban on fracking means an increase in coal use to generate electricity. It means an increase in local costs of electricity.”

Have you seen a decrease in your energy bills? I haven't! Besides, how can opponents be blamed for driving up the prices, since drilling is still in full swing almost everywhere in the country?

When asked by a member of the audience whether the oil and gas industry should work with local school districts to educate kids about the value of oil and gas as a way to boost industry public relations, both Miller and Kirkmeyer said such plans are already underway. “We have to educate the youth and start there, and we also have to educate the general public as well,” Miller said. “Both of those programs need to start now. The industry is starting that.” Kirkmeyer said Weld County is working with at least one school district in the county to teach kids about the importance of industry.

If there is any hope for a future for today's children and their kids at all, it does not lie in fossil fuels, but in renewable energy and sustainable livelihoods. That is what schools should focus on. It is bad enough gas wells are sprouting up close to people's homes, and that 67 wells are planned within a quarter of a mile of Frontier Academy along 29th street. Read: Where Do The Children Play

 In an earlier speech, Mercator Energy President and Western Energy Alliance board member John Harpole said fracking is good for poor people because the more fracking done in the U.S, the more natural gas will be available to drive down consumers’ cost for heating.

Fracking is actually bad, especially for poor people who may feel forced to work in the oil and gas fields to make a living, and will compromise their health in doing so. Furthermore, people in poor neighborhoods do not have the opportunity to protest a proposed well site nearby.
So far, protests have indeed come from those residents who are more affluent, but they are fully supported in their plight by people from all over Greeley, who not only want to help them but anyone anywhere who will be affected by the intrusion of noise, hazards and polluted air. With hundreds of wells already producing within city limits, we all are breathing VOCs and ozone molecules.

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.

Greeley Gas Well Sites

These are producing, and planned gas well sites of Mineral Resources, Inc., our 'locally, privately held oil and natural gas producer'. Other companies have drill sites too. For a closer look, click on this link. Then, when you click on a red icon you can read how many wells are, or will be, there.