2quills
Well-Known Member
BTW, Reef...not to beat a dead horse here but how are the clean up efforts going in your neck of the woods? Youre in Colorado, right?
Spills and water contamination
An analysis by Environmental Working Group and The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) found that at least 65 chemicals used by natural gas companies in Colorado are listed as hazardous under six major federal laws designed to protect Americans from toxic substances.[5]In 2004, Canada-based Encana Corp. improperly cemented and hydraulically fractured a well in Garfield County, Colorado. The state found that the poor cementing caused natural gas and associated contaminants to travel underground more than 4,000 feet laterally. As a result, a creek became contaminated with dangerous levels of carcinogenic benzene. The state of Colorado fined Encana a then-record $371,200. After more than seven years of cleanup efforts, as of September 2012, three groundwater monitoring wells near the creek still showed unsafe levels of benzene.[20][21]In 2008, a drilling wastewater pit in Colorado leaked 1.6 million gallons of fluid, which migrated into the Colorado River.[22]A 2008-2011 Colorado School of Public Health hydrological study found that as the number of gas wells in Garfield County increased, methane levels in water wells also rose. State regulators later fined EnCana Oil and Gas for faulty well casings that allowed methane to migrate into water supplies through natural faults.[23][24]During an eight-month period in 2011, companies in the state spilled 2 million gallons of fluids. Officials say there are up to 400 oil and gas spills each year in Colorado, but that only 20 percent contaminate groundwater.[25]In March 2013 it was reported that an "underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute [Colorado] has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff. Vacuum trucks have sucked up more than 60,000 gallons, but an unknown amount remains in the ground by Parachute Creek," which flows into the Colorado River.[26] The company responsible for the leak, Williams Energy, was put in charge of the clean-up.[27]The leak was caused by a faulty pressure gauge on a four-inch pipeline. Benzene levels in Parachute Creek rose above the safety threshold of 5 parts per billion. Following the spill, Colorado lawmakers discovered that state penalties for such accidents had been capped at $10,000 since the 1960s. In response, they passed legislation in May 2013 that increased possible state fines for such incidents. But the state had yet to fine Williams Energy.[27]
Spills and water contamination
An analysis by Environmental Working Group and The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) found that at least 65 chemicals used by natural gas companies in Colorado are listed as hazardous under six major federal laws designed to protect Americans from toxic substances.[5]In 2004, Canada-based Encana Corp. improperly cemented and hydraulically fractured a well in Garfield County, Colorado. The state found that the poor cementing caused natural gas and associated contaminants to travel underground more than 4,000 feet laterally. As a result, a creek became contaminated with dangerous levels of carcinogenic benzene. The state of Colorado fined Encana a then-record $371,200. After more than seven years of cleanup efforts, as of September 2012, three groundwater monitoring wells near the creek still showed unsafe levels of benzene.[20][21]In 2008, a drilling wastewater pit in Colorado leaked 1.6 million gallons of fluid, which migrated into the Colorado River.[22]A 2008-2011 Colorado School of Public Health hydrological study found that as the number of gas wells in Garfield County increased, methane levels in water wells also rose. State regulators later fined EnCana Oil and Gas for faulty well casings that allowed methane to migrate into water supplies through natural faults.[23][24]During an eight-month period in 2011, companies in the state spilled 2 million gallons of fluids. Officials say there are up to 400 oil and gas spills each year in Colorado, but that only 20 percent contaminate groundwater.[25]In March 2013 it was reported that an "underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute [Colorado] has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff. Vacuum trucks have sucked up more than 60,000 gallons, but an unknown amount remains in the ground by Parachute Creek," which flows into the Colorado River.[26] The company responsible for the leak, Williams Energy, was put in charge of the clean-up.[27]The leak was caused by a faulty pressure gauge on a four-inch pipeline. Benzene levels in Parachute Creek rose above the safety threshold of 5 parts per billion. Following the spill, Colorado lawmakers discovered that state penalties for such accidents had been capped at $10,000 since the 1960s. In response, they passed legislation in May 2013 that increased possible state fines for such incidents. But the state had yet to fine Williams Energy.[27]
