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!

Almost Half of 1000 Spills Contaminated Groundwater.

Interview with Shane Davis, published on Oct 1, 2013

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

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

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

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

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

Part One 

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

 

Part Two 

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

Part Three 

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

 

And the Spills Continue

From the Greeley Tribune's Oil and Gas Spill Report
To tell by their opinion poll, many readers skip reading the spill reports! See illustration! Click here to leave your vote!

NOTE: One barrel of oil is 42 gallons (I added the conversion to gallons in red and added emphases)

Sept. 12, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Aug. 29, a gasket on a truck failed while an oil hauler was being loaded northeast of Fort Lupton. About 1.6 barrels of oil (672 gallons) were released; none were recovered. The driver shut the pumps down and released the pressure. A bucket was placed to catch leaking oil. Contaminated soil will be excavated. Soil sample tests will determine further remediation efforts. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 13, Bonanza Creek Energy Operating Company LLC reported that on Sep. 3, a tank equalizing valve was shut between two oil tanks east of Evans. This prevented oil from running over to the second tank as the first filled. About 100 barrels of oil (4200 gallons) were released, and 97 recovered with a vacuum truck. The equalizer valve was opened. The tank battery will be dismantled and soil tested. The cause of the spill was determined to be human error.

Sept. 13, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Sept. 4, an operator who was draining water from the oil tank to the water tank south of Platteville left the site without closing the drain valve. The water tank overflowed, releasing about 22 barrels of oil (924 gallons), none of which were recovered. Groundwater was impacted. Some contaminated water was disposed of, and MicroBlaze was applied to what remained. A new battery will be constructed with a geosynthetic liner. The cause of the spill was determined to be human error.

Sept. 13, Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Onshore LP reported that on Sept. 6, an operator discovered oil staining on the ground during a daily site inspection southwest of Johnstown. The poly pipe came apart on the oil dumpline. It is unknown how much oil was released, and none has been recovered. Groundwater was impacted. Impacted soil was excavated. Ten gallons of MicroBlaze was applied to the water, and groundwater monitoring wells will be installed to determine the extent of the contamination. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 13, Encana Oil and Gas (USA) reported that on Sept. 6, a seal failed on a discharge line. The crew nearby shut off the mud drilling flow quickly. The spill area was scraped and the remaining drilling mud was removed using a vacuum truck. No further remediation is required. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 17, Bill Barrett Corporation reported that on Sept. 6, a hose from a mud pit to a pumping unit failed, causing a release of about five barrels of drilling mud, all of which were recovered. Soil samples will be collected, and if they are compliant with allowable levels of contaminates, no further remediation will be required. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.

Sept. 17, Noble Energy Inc. reported that on Sept. 11, about two barrels of water (84 gallons) released from a filling frac tank during line blow down process northeast of Eaton. One barrel was recovered. The area will be excavated and soil samples collected. The cause of the spill was determined to be equipment failure.