|
Huerfano County, |
I am hoping someone will write and submit a summary for this page.... |
|
Articles |
Boom in gas drilling fuels contamination concerns in Colorado Some scientists and citizens want firms that extract natural gas to reveal what chemicals they’re using. By Josh McDaniel Contributor of The Christian Science Monitor/ February 5, 2009 edition An excerpt from the article: "Ben Bounds, for one, would like additional assurances about fracing’s safety. In the summer of 2007, methane seeped from his domestic well and exploded inside his pump house. The explosion lifted the pump-house roof off the frame and melted or singed everything inside. A few days later, a state inspector with a methane detector investigated the Bounds property in rural Huerfano County, at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. “When he opened the door to the garage, the detector went absolutely crazy,” says Mr. Bounds. While 50 methane drilling wells and active hydraulic fracturing operations are nearby, a lack of independent monitoring and testing has made it impossible to prove that fracing created pathways for methane to collect in Bounds’s domestic water system. Bounds and his family immediately evacuated the home, and they’ve had to evacuate many times since when detectors Bounds installed have signaled the presence of methane."
|
|
From Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission August 2007 Staff Report: Investigation of Huerfano County Water Wells Venting Methane In response to complaints from landowners regarding the appearance of methane in their water wells, the staff recommended and the Commission approved an emergency order at the July 2007 hearing to use environmental emergency response funds to conduct an investigation. The COGCC retained a third party contractor to conduct weekly methane screening of water wells in a 14 square mile area surrounding the 12 impacted water wells. To date all of the water wells have been surveyed 4 times. Comparison of isotopic composition of the methane from the waters wells to isotopic composition of methane produced in the northern portion of the Raton Basin indicates that the gas in the water wells is similar to the thermogenic gas produced by the coalbed methane wells. Petroglyph Energy Inc. voluntarily agreed to shut in its 52 wells in the area and to conduct an Investigation, Monitoring and Mitigation Program. The objective of the program is to determine whether the CBM reservoir in this area can be produced without creating significant impact to public health, safety and the environment. The Program has 16 tasks. The COGCC and its contractors will be conducting 5 of these tasks and Petroglyph will be conducting the rest. Petroglyph has reentered 2 plugged and abandoned wells that were suspected of acting as conduits for migration of methane from the CBM reservoir to the aquifer used by the impacted water wells. One well remains open and is being used as an observation point and the second well has been re-plugged. Based on the results of their work, these wells do not appear to have been acting as conduits for methane migration. Petroglyph is working on the other tasks and has provided pressure data on its production wells, installed downhole pressure gauges or monitoring tubes in 3 water wells, and is working on access agreement with other water well owners. Petroglyph has also retained a third
party contractor to assist with water well sampling, and the screening of
additional water wells for methane accumulation. |
|
From Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission February 2009 Staff Report: SOUTHEAST COLORADO Methane Investigation Monitoring, and Mitigation Plan (MIMMP) - Huerfano County Phase 1 Update One monitoring well, 4 recovery, and 8 injection wells have been drilled, completed and tested by Petroglyph Energy Inc. (PEI) as part of Phase 1 of the MIMMP. The pipelines for transporting the recovered fluids to the treatment area have been installed and tested. Separate pipelines that will transport recovered water from the separator area to the injection wells have also been installed. Treatment under Phase 1 consists of physically separating dissolved methane from the recovered ground water using a vertical separator. The methane will be sent to a controlled flare for combustion. The flare has been installed and is operational. Operation of the pump, treatment, and injection system started on December 8, 2008. More than 800,000 gallons of water had been pumped to the surface and treated as of January 21, 2009. Approximately 90% of that water had been re-injected into the aquifer after treatment. PEI has applied to the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for permission to drill an exploratory well in the vicinity of the impacted water well located in Section 15, Township 29 South, Range 67 West, 6th P.M. This impacted water well is located more than one mile south of the ring of injection wells. The exploratory hole will assist in determining if gas is present, at what level the gas occurs and whether additional venting or treatment is needed at that location. A decision by BLM is anticipated to be made shortly. Gas flows are monitored at 4 domestic wells by PEI or its consultant and at 2 domestic wells by COGCC and its consultant. Overall gas flow has decreased in all monitored domestic wells. During the period from December 15, 2008, to January 22, 2009, NAH and PEI screened 73 domestic water wells for the presence of methane with hand held methane detectors for changes in percent volume of methane, %LEL, and %O2; 51 of the monitored wells showed little change from the previous month’s monitoring, 6 wells showed increases in methane concentration, 16 wells showed decreases in methane concentration. Mitigation PEI is currently supplying water to 15 homes upon request of the well owner. Methane alarms have been installed in 14 homes. Phase II The EPA is expected to issue draft permits for public comment with respect to PEI’s applications to allow the injection of Vermejo Formation water produced from CBM wells in February or March, 2009. PEI is preparing applications to the Division of Water Resources to ask for changes to water sources and injection as part the process of initiating Phase II. Approval to operate some of PEI’s CBM wells by the Director would also be needed to initiate Phase II
|
|
People |
| I am hoping someone will offer themselves as a point of contact for others interested in this story....
|
|
Updates Canary
Watch Stand
Tall Beacons and Triumphs Image
Gallery |
|
All contents of this site, unless
otherwise noted are copyrighted by Lisa Bracken, 2007-2008. All rights are
reserved. |