Rifle, Colorado's Story
 

Articles
 

If you know of an article which helps to tell this story, and may provide additional resources and clues, please share it with us....

Following is an excerpt from the outstanding article:

Conscientious Objectors
Public employees and their allies on the outside fight against Bush’s war on science
Feature story - From the December 20, 2004 issue of High Country News
by Laura Paskus

"One autumn morning seven years ago near Rifle, Colo., Wendell Goad walked out of his house to find his driveway flooded with mucky water. Turning toward his garage, he saw a 15-foot-tall geyser shooting out of his drinking water well.

Goad and his wife, Kay, soon learned the cause: Natural gas drillers working about a mile from the house had been using a technique called hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into underground coal beds to release methane gas. The night before the flood, sometime between 11 and midnight, the drillers, who worked for Williams Production Company, lost control of a gas well, causing a "blowout" in an underground fissure.

"The pressure found a fracture somewhere and found our water well," says Kay Goad. "And it needed to erupt someplace."

That eruption continued for a day and a half; the Goads had to evacuate their home for three days because it was filled with dangerous levels of methane. For months afterward, they kept fans in the crawlspace to clear the house of the odorless, colorless gas that seeped from the well. For more than two years, Kay says, she could hold a match to the pipe that vents the well and spark a blue flame. The couple still has a methane detector in their bedroom, and despite the efforts of three different water-treatment specialists, their well water remains too contaminated to drink. Williams Production has responded by drilling the Goads a new well; the company is still trying to clean the old one of cancer-causing benzene.

Hydraulic fracturing, or "frac’ing," (pronounced FRACK-ing) is on the rise around Rifle and elsewhere in the West, but the Goads and citizens like them are powerless to stop future blowouts. "Seven years ago, no one listened to us," says Kay. "I just don’t understand how they can continue to do this, and continue to contaminate water that they can’t clean up."

In fact, for most of a decade, community activists have been fighting to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate frac’ing. Drillers inject the earth with chemicals such as diesel fuel, benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, ethylbenzene and zylene (HCN, 10/27/03: Gas industry gets cracking). Those chemicals and gelling agents, when mixed with sand and water, create new fissures and hold them open so that oil or gas can better reach the well head. But critics argue that too little is known about where the chemicals eventually end up, or what impacts they might have on underground aquifers pumped for drinking water and irrigation. Inside the EPA, there are longtime civil servants who agree and say that the agency’s own science backs them up.

But to this day, no federal agencies regulate hydraulic fracturing, which is used primarily by three companies worldwide — Halliburton, Schlumberger and BJ Services Company. Energy companies don’t even need a permit to use the process. And, this January, Congress may vote to permanently exempt frac’ing from any future regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

. . . .

".... in early October, a 30-year veteran of the EPA blew the whistle. Weston Wilson, an environmental engineer in the agency’s Region 8 Office, sent a letter to the Colorado congressional delegation revealing that the EPA’s own studies had shown that hydraulic fracturing could taint underground drinking water supplies."

. . . .

In the 18-page technical analysis he sent to his congressional delegation, Wilson wrote that the EPA’s report was "scientifically unsound and contrary to the purposes of the law," and he warned that the agency’s "improper conduct … may result in danger to public health and safety." He also pointed out that the seven-person "peer review" panel that approved the report included five members with potential conflicts of interest: a petroleum engineer with BP Amoco, a technical advisor for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., an engineer with the Gas Technology Institute, and former employees of BP Amoco and Mobil Exploration."

Note: If you want to learn more about the details and inner workings of hydraulic fracturing and it's dangers, I urge you to read this article in full....

you can also visit my wee primer here
 

Following are the official findings from the COGCC in the Goad case

BEFORE THE OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION

OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE                         )                             CAUSE NO. 1

RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE COLORADO OIL                      )

AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION BY                                     )                             ORDER NO. 1V-132.5

BARRETT RESOURCES CORPORATION                                         )

GARFIELD COUNTY, COLORADO                                                         )

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER BY CONSENT

FINDINGS

                        1. On September 15, 1997, Barrett Resources Corporation ("Barrett") lost well control while drilling the Bernklau # RMV 108-4 (the "Bernklau Well") located in the NW¼ NE¼ of Section 4, Township 7 South, Range 94 West, Garfield County, Colorado. The loss of well control resulted in an underground blowout which directly impacted the Wendell Goad water well (the "Water Well") located approximately ¾ of a mile to the northwest of the Bernklau Well.

                        2. During production casing cementing operations, the Bernklau Well began flowing gas to surface. The gas flow was caused by reduced hydrostatic pressure across the producing gas formations. The reduction in hydrostatic pressure occurred after Barrett pumped lower density fluids prior to pumping the cement slurry to cement the production casing.

                        3. During production cementing operations, Barrett shut-in the Bernklau Well to prevent the cement slurry from blowing out of the hole through the well control equipment.

                        4. After Barrett shut-in the Bernklau Well, pressure in the annulus between the production casing and the open-hole increased to levels sufficient to allow gas in the annulus to escape from the Bernklau Wellbore and to migrate to the Water Well.

                        5. After the blow-out, Barrett voluntarily conducted ground water sampling and testing and methane monitoring in the area surrounding the Bernklau Well to determine potential ground water contamination and methane concentrations caused by the blow-out to protect the health and safety of the area residents.

                        6. Analysis of samples from the Water Well detected a benzene concentration of 1,700 parts per billion. This concentration significantly exceeds the standard of 5 parts per billion set by the Water Quality Control Commission for ground waters of the state.

                        7. The Director finds that this incident resulted in a violation of Rule 324A.b. which states "[n]o operator, in the conduct of any oil or gas operation shall perform any act or practice which shall constitute a violation of water quality standards or classifications established by the Water Quality Control Commission for waters of the state,….."

                        8. The Director finds that this incident resulted in a violation of Rule 327 which states "[t]he operator shall take all reasonable precautions, in addition to fully complying with Rule 317. to prevent any oil, gas or water well from blowing uncontrolled". During the cementing operations of the Bernklau Well, all reasonable precautions were not taken to maintain adequate hydrostatic pressure on the gas formations to prevent gas influx into the wellbore and resulting loss of well control.

                        9. The Director finds that this incident resulted in a significant adverse impact on public health, safety and welfare.

                        10. A monetary penalty should be assessed against Barrett for these Rule violations in accordance with Rule 523.a.

                        11. Based on Barrett’s response, investigation and mitigation of the effect of these violations and Barrett’s historic operations within the Williams Fork development area, the following mitigating factors shall be applied to any monetary penalty:

a. That Barrett self-reported the violation.

b. That Barrett demonstrated prompt, effective and prudent response to the violation.

c. That Barrett cooperated with the Commission with respect to this violation.

d. That Barrett has demonstrated a history of compliance with Commission rules, regulations and orders.

                        12. Barrett recognizes the Director’s authority to provisionally resolve alleged violations through negotiation and execution of Administrative Orders by Consent ("AOC") prepared for Commission approval pursuant to Rule 522.b. The Director’s consent to enter into this AOC is conditioned upon the Director’s finding that Barrett violated Rules 324A.b. and 327. In entering into this AOC with the Director, Barrett does not admit any violation of these Rules.

ORDER

                        1. Barrett Resources Corporation be found in violation of Rules 324A.b. and 327.

                        2. This incident at the Bernklau Well caused significant adverse impact on public health, safety and welfare.

    3. Barrett Resources Corporation shall be fined $40,000 for these violations.

    RECOMMENDED this _____day of __________, 1997 to be in effect as of October 24, 1997.

OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

The following excerpt is from the excellent and comprehensive article:

Gas Pains
Drilling for natural gas on the Western Slope has punched holes in some residents' dreams of solitude. Others see it as the way of the West
By T.R. Witcher
Published on October 04, 2001
http://www.westword.com/2001-10-04/news/gas-pains/4

"The GVCA says it has heard from more than 200 people statewide with complaints. But few can compare to the disruption that began four years ago when Kay and Wendell Goad's water well blew after a gas well exploded almost a mile away.

At first the Goads didn't make the connection to the mining operation. Wendell was heading to work when he came down his driveway and saw it was flooded. He thought the problem was with his water well, so he shut down power to the pump. But water kept coming, and Goad guessed that the source of the trouble was the nearby wells. He called Barrett, whose crew arrived quickly. However, pressure led the gas 4,000 feet underground to the Goad's water well. Gas had leaked into their home as well, and the couple had to move out for several days. For months afterward, they had to keep their windows open and run a fan in the crawl space. Cigarette smoking was banned on the property.

The Goads are still having troubles, even after consulting with three water specialists, who first tried to aerate the soil to get rid of the gas. Then they tried to pump the water out of the well, filter it aboveground and pump it back in. Finally, last year, Barrett paid to drill a line across their property to hook them up to an uncontaminated water source. "It could happen again," says Kay Goad. "Methane gas is odorless and colorless. If that had filtered into our home earlier that evening, we could have woken up dead. Plus, it could have ignited; it could have blown."

Voicing a common position, she says she's not against the drilling. She realizes people own mineral rights and the gas is underneath their land. But, she asks, "Why do we need to get it all out today?"

People
 

I am hoping someone will 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

Divide Creek Seep 2008      Timeline of Events       Site Map  (recommended)

Consortium of the Frac'd       Home

All contents of this site, unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by Lisa Bracken, 2007-2008. All rights are reserved.
Visit links outside the scope of this website at your own risk. All information is subject to change without notice.