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Updates
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| Track the weekly developments of 60
wells during the course of their anticipated fifteen-month long completion.
If you'd like to be apprised of these activities via an e-mail reminder, please fill out the submission form below and I'll do my best to send you a notice. Please note that some of these pages - due to pictures which are as small as I can make them - may take a while to download. Unless you see a tiny white box with a red "X" in the upper left had corner - the pictures are there and will download - but it may take a bit.... thanks for your patience. |
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Observations Beginning Week of September 24-30, 2007 |
| Week 1 | The rig goes up to drill the first well | Sept 24-30 |
| Week 2 |
A landowner meeting has been scheduled, information cards distributed, elk sited, wells sampled | Oct 01-07 |
| Week 3
|
Details from landowner - Industry meeting; Oil and Gas Liaison tours area, Odor reporting tips from Environmental Health Manager; Sound abatement measures installed on rig; Article in Post Independent; New updates to site | Oct 08-14
|
| Week 4
|
Macke leaves post as head of COGCC / Divide Creek Seep backgrounder; New creek observations; Frac meeting scheduled; Common nightmares and rare insights; Elk and other wildlife update; Events in the news... | Oct 15-21
|
| Week 5
|
One well is in the bag, next well underway; Reporting of new bubbling activity - COGCC official visits site - Sampling is forthcoming; Fracing conversation yields concerns; Observations of pond areas; Site updates: Image Gallery (Divide Creek Then, Divide Creek Now, Summerhawk in Autumn's Colors ) and 'Stand Tall' Resources; Events in the news... | Oct 22-28
|
| Response received from DOW on letter
regarding elk; Cordilleran samples the new addition to the old Eicher/Bracken
beaver pond; The fate of an injured buck remains unknown;
Events
in the news... |
Oct 29-Nov 04
|
|
Well progress update; Conference Call: Area operations / Schwartz well ‘shut-in’ / No BTEX /
Fracing plans still uncertain; Veteran’s Day salute;
Events in the news; Spirit
guide… |
Nov 05-11 |
|
Well progress update;
Canary Watch; Elk letter forwarded to BLM; Bubbling increases in pond; A new
buck moves into Summerhawk; Lion track spotted... |
Nov 12-18 |
|
Increased bubbling in the
pond; Well progress update (or lack thereof); Prayers, politics and the
proliferation of rectalitis; New resources added: Timeline of continuing
2004 gas seep / Documents related to the seep / East Mamm Creek Notice to
Operators (rules drillers must follow when drilling in this special, former
'moratorium' area) / Federal Unit visual aid... |
Nov 19-25
|
|
Well progress update:
replacing the rig on Schwartz; Results of sampling, and our position on the
findings; Buck joins the herd; Eagle messenger... |
Nov 26 - Dec 02 |
|
EnCana has finally sent a
plan outlining proposed development of the 40 wells; Beaver hooch swaddled
in an ice blanket over Divide Creek; A letter to Gov. Ritter asking him to
protect the Roan Plateau; Message from Blackcloud.... |
Dec 03-09 |
|
The elk have moved down
from the high country; The COGCC sends preliminary pond bubbling report; COGCC rule change process underway;
Funky spill reported by neighbor.... |
Dec 10-16 |
|
Fracing on Schwartz; We
submit our comments to the COGCC regarding rules changes; A condensate spill
- a big one.... |
Dec 17-23 |
|
Happy Holidays, Merry
Christmas and all that jazz!; A special gift on Christmas Morning; A message
from Coyote.... |
Dec 24-30 |
|
Grody flares left and right, dirty snow and big doins as industry folk fall out for a show of force at the Battlement Mesa rules change meeting.... oh yeah... and a tiny
proposal for world peace.... |
Dec 31 - Jan 06 2008
|
|
What really went on at the
rule changes stake-holder meetings in Denver....; Taking Coyote's advice; and so on.... |
Jan 07-13 |
|
COGCC rule changes meeting round two,
in which my dog offers his insight; UFO's over Texas? Let a Texan explain....; Rabbit messenger.... |
Jan 14-20 |
|
8 inches of snow and time
to plow - again!; Well progress update - 3 down; Hawk keeps me company on a
chilly winter's morning.... |
Jan 21-27 |
|
Elk head for lower
elevations; Events in the news.... Lawmakers opposed to the new
rules who they are and how much their political campaigns received from
industry.... |
Jan 28-Feb 03 |
|
More deep snows keep elk down in
lower elevations, and shut our little plow down; An unexpected
gift from a stranger; Events in the news.... The fate of Colorado
Wildlife, caught, once again between fractured jurisdiction and competing
interests; Industry whines over proposed need to increase impact fees
- billions in profit are just not enough; Salazars work to wrangle
leverage away from Allard and win major bucks for GarCo in the process.... |
Feb 04-10
|
|
Elk and deer begin moving
back in as warmer temperatures drop snow levels; Schwartz site
gears up to drill; Events in the news.... Wildlife plight comes
into focus as Garfield Creek Wildlife Area (a refuge near us) goes on the
chopping block; Efforts to block drilling in the former nuke site at
Rulison are shot down by COGCC.... |
Feb 11-17 |
|
Cow elk watch from the
woods as their calving grounds remain overrun by industry. Industry who had
a choice to reallocate their assets during this vital time, but chose not
to. In fact, did not even bother to respond to my request that they do so.... |
Feb 18-24 |
|
EnCana tears the heck out
of the ground on the Schwartz site and pushes dirt around to create a
gigantic berm, all the while, of course, continuing to shut out and stress
the elk waiting to access the area to calve - this is also why "reclamation"
is usually a farce; Letter to editor refuting industry's position against
rule changes; deep snows further bring stress to this mountain's elk herd. |
Feb 25-March 02
|
|
EnCana sets up a man-camp;
Gunky Eye - again....; In the News: Industry and others,
including Garfield County Oil and Gas Liaison weigh in on the rules
process.... |
Mar 03-09 |
|
Four rigs line a Rocky
Mountain ridge in the pre-dawn light; Garfield County decides on
allowing the use of man-camps on private property without landowner
consultation or approval - my comments in a letter to them; Dawn breaks on the mountain.... |
Mar 10-16 |
|
Elk scarf on new spring
grass; First grade wash-out (that's me) helps draft community forecasting
document; Industry beats its chest, bangs its forearms on the ground and
demands to be invited to a party they've already been invited to; An
extraordinary find.... |
Mar 17-23 |
|
Divide Creek presses
against the beaver dam and swells across the valley floor.... |
Mar 24-30 |
|
Summerhawk Walkabout! |
Mar 31-April 06
|
|
Be on the Receiving side of a convoy, plus, "A Tale of Two Pad Rats"; Snow storm obliterates the Schwartz site - at least for an hour or so....; County Commissioners Martin and McCown fall in love with idea of man-camps on private property....
|
April 07-13 |
|
This week we signed a mineral lease with EnCana in exchange for a no-surface use provision and at least some testing of our water well. This is a major coup (and I'm sure EnCana feels likewise from their perspective). While gas can be pursued under our surface, this land is now sovereign, and the life that depends upon the ground, the water and the air is protected as far as we can provide for - for as long as the gas lasts. Blackcloud and the spirits are still singing in the wind.... Discovered several vent holes and three rivulets of blue bio-film on the creek bank; Letter to editor re: GarCo Commissioners Martin and McCown's allowance of use-by-right man camps on private property without landowner permission.... |
April 14-20
|
|
Toured "main" seep site
and learned about mitigation measures of ongoing contamination.... |
April 21-27 |
|
See the spewing plume from
what has so far been described as a "pipeline event" over Summerhawk - now
with video-vision! (okay, it's YouTube... but yay! Now on YouTube!!) |
April 28-May 04 |
|
Photos of mountain ranges
on either side of the Colorado river... and some uglies too. |
May 05-11 |
|
Frac tanks in place and
ready to roll; The rumor mill churns on...; Letter to Editor in response to
Garfield County Commissioner's draft rules reaction in which Martin and McCown slam wildlife; Water Workshop in Gunnison, my address to attendees,
and Hopi prophecy; New documentary film resource on industry's
impacts; Go on a fly-over of the gas patch; Lion tracks on canyon rim.... |
May 12-18
|
|
Fox dens on an embankment; Divide Creek breaks for the coast; Industry and others muscle the process and the players on up-coming rule changes; Alice in Wonderland scenario of wildlife from a Mesa County commissioner; Snake messenger; Beaver Dam washes downstream....
|
May 19-25
|
|
Focus on brown cloud health
effects and "Gunky Eye"; Snake messenger; Cedar speaks as Earth
spirit predictions unfold; Nature as life and spirit guide....
|
May 26-June 01
|
|
Endless fussing over on Schwartz - and finally, a
semi-reliable (maybe) plan for the next fifteen months or so; Funky
emissions (video) coming off the frac tank battery (made a report to COGCC
by phone); Take a gander at the bright pad lights at night (video and
photo); The
political ravings of a newly anointed "grass top"; Sizing up our
Governor - in person; Our official - if not very well sugar-coated -
comments to the COGCC regarding the draft rules; Hopeful discussions with EnCana's landscape architect
with a focus on reclamation and previous failures; Bleak thoughts on the upcoming
presidential election; The loveliness of a
cloud-shrouded mountain and red-blooming cactus; Words of wisdom from Willy.... |
June 02-08 |
|
Final comments delivered to
Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission at hearing today; Hearing
happenings and disappointment in someone I considered a one-time champion; A
sneak peek at real reclamation - some four years after the drill; A
tough-topic conversation with Stephen Bershenyi - Democratic candidate for
Garfield County Commissioner; The BLM drops to a new low in leasing out all
55,000 acres of the Roan Plateau; Outlandish views in the news.... |
June 09-15
|
|
Standing up for wildlife as industry slips and slides on a red herring - blog posts from the GJ Sentinel; The much ballyhooed 2-year "Garfield County Health Risk Assessment of Oil and Gas Industry Impacts" is set out for public consumption, but don't count on me being at the party; Follow-up on the pipeline thing from week 32; Another demotion from the court of champions; Additions to the court of champions; In the news: Industry's tendency to baffle, bluff, block and bully; Martin and McCown institute another step backward for Garfield County by voting down severance tax idea; Popcorn and benzene - one thin dime.... |
June 16-22
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| Week 40
|
Go for a Walkabout and see
Summerhawk in Summer's Splendor!.... This week has been a lot of good news - bad news, ups and downs.... Discovery of new seep in Divide Creek 06-28-08 see the disgusting ooze seeping into Divide Creek at the site of the beaver hootch; Rig move scheduled for this Thursday and several days following as work sets up to begin on Juniper Group site....; Many blessings for a new friend and the one who holds her down; |
June 23 - 29
|
| Week 41
|
The ancients offer guidance and
insight - even into the rule-making process.
Seep 2008 Update: COGCC Inspector and
Environmental Protection Specialist visit site and samples are obtained;
New orange seeps emerge and three new black vents are discovered in nearby
areas; I receive a letter from COGCC stressing the sampling that
has already occurred on our property and the biogenic results. I reply to
that letter stressing the COGCC's habitual failure to embrace the scope of
this and related events as well as acknowledge our observations and
testimony that these events are not "normally" occurring within our
localized environment; In the News - man near Parachute drinks benzene and
several gas companies are issued Notices of Alleged Violation.... A wonderful surprise on our July 3rd walkabout! A not-so-good surprise too.... orange goo still present on Langegger's creek bank near the "mother vent" which is still 'hot' with benzene. But, his springs look good; ignited black seep and examined sample... think I might have an idea what this could be.... Page 2 Added to 2008 Divide Creek Seep - which includes the update just above. (Everything related to the 2008 seep can be found all in one place on the main 2008 Divide Creek Seep page which gives you a link to the second page - or you can go to week 41 - or you can go to the sitemap) Endless Gunky Eye.... A flag to share - Happy 4th of July Everyone! |
June 30 - July 06
|
| Week 42
|
Remember how I spoke about not seeing
any elk calves this year? Well, I finally got the
Week 30
still pics of the herd leaving Summerhawk, so you can see for yourself.
Industry says elk LOVE their industrial operations - not so much;
Division of Wildlife Conducts a population count on Summerhawk fishes;
Guess what I found on the banks of Divide Creek? (it's a happy thing);
Spirit warrior and pony in the sky; Stress taking a toll in the form of nightmares - all week....
leads to Citizen Generated Complaint/ Report Form - rip it off and share it
with your favorite official; Fumigation three out of seven days this
week; Seep 2008 Update - more weirdness; In the News....
Canada rats out its own and demonstrates big-time industry PR pimping .... BLM/Roan Plateau lawsuit, Tresi defends her dual responsibilities / Denomy
advocates for severance tax / pimp smack-down.... |
June 07 - 13
|
| Week 43
|
COGCC volley - I ask, 'hey - if you
were so darned sure the bubbling was because of the beaver pond last year -
then what the heck is it now that the beaver pond is GONE?';
County moves in an air monitor despite the offending pine trees on our
property which surely share some of the blame;
Seep 2008 Update - I ask the
COGCC to take a look a the white stuff; In the
News: "What The Hell is Wrong With This Industry 101" A story about a nurse who was exposed to industrial chemicals and
suffered temporary organ failure but was prevented from testifying about the
need to disclose chemicals used in this industry - this story and my
commentary reveal much
about what is wrong with the way this industry operates in Colorado
/ BLM smacks down DOW - elk and deer get screwed again / Gramma Tuttle
shouts out / A gas field worker from Parachute says I'm full of the big doo doo when it comes to wildlife.... It's a wily full-moon kind of week.... |
July 14 - 20
|
| Week 44
|
Seep 2008 Update - Seep still going strong. Black seep area drier as ground water appears to be shifting to the West. Map to put all of these references in context and show their relativity to one another; Analytical results of sampling have come in.... On the hunt for answers beyond COGCC's assurance that all is well.. | July 21 - 27
|
| Week 45
|
Seep 2008 Update - Gathered a
consensus from the scientific community, moving forward with letter
requesting ground water sampling....; Two photo-graphics depicting proximity
of wells to new seep; County removes air monitors....; Tree
die off pronounced - I am grieving deeply for this loss and this is the last
I will write until I can find some meaning in my heart for it.... Have returned with insight and guidance and a message to share....; Tree die-off observations; New Video on YouTube of Divide Creek Seep 2004 - the stuff they don't want you to see, and more of it to come....; A great big THANK YOU to everyone out there who is cheering us and Summerhawk Valley on - regular folk, officials and even a few industry folk....
|
July 28 - August 03
|
| Week 46 |
Waiting to hear from COGCC if ground water testing is forthcoming.... like an ant shoving skyward....; Fracing and the 6 Billion Dollar Question....; The Politics of Public Health - Part One: Obstructionism flourishes in the presence of methane; All new video they don't want you to see....; In The News: Hey - how about that smog detector!; CLEAN WATER.... OR NOT; Solving Shale with CO2 | August 04 - 10 |
| Week 47
|
Summary of the seep and a
countdown to investigation that will remain at the top of each subsequent
weekly update until the COGCC demonstrates concern for the public's health
and safety and conducts their agency with proper oversight.
Still waiting, but shifting loudly in our seats......; "COGCC Investigates West Divide Creek" - a sad and satirical toon; The Politics of Public Health - Part Two: white hats, Hitler, King Kong and 6 billion dollar pelican roosts; The Mechanics of a Cover-Up....; "The Perfect Spin".... Seep Update: more and strange vegetation die-off, change in gas odor, weird mud; EPA takes the reins - finally....; In The News: Why bullies are bullies regardless of the flag they fly.... |
August 11 - 17
|
| Week 48 |
Presentation to County Commissioners - walked into an ambush as a ten minute presentation goes long - way long.... and the truth is told in front of God and everybody / Ground Water Argument in a Nutshell (don't miss it!); In The News: Brain damage and crawdads with garter belts | August 18 - 24 |
| Week 49
|
The COGCC does a 180º, overnight turn around and offers to conduct air, soil and water sampling on the 28th; ....; COGCC sampling efforts only a ruse? COGCC initiates confrontation and walks off sampling project....;The Story of Spots - The Super Frog.... a partially paralyzed leopard frog found in an area where gas is escaping into the creek; Newly discovered impact sites on Southern corner and Eastern side of our property (by abandoned beaver pond), as well as other areas all along the Easter side of adjoining neighbor's property suggesting this event is much larger than we first thought - but still no investigation by the COGCC. | August 25 - 31
|
| Week 50 |
a prayer for this land.... | September 01 - 07 |
|
This is a bulk update as I fall behind on weeklies
and grapple with the demands of encouraging the COGCC and Garfield County to
do their jobs by providing endless streams of proof that such an expectation
is reasonable.
Week 51 - More delays; Disappearing COGCC documents; Existing rules ignored; Dying vegetation assessment; Useless air monitoring results.... [11-11-08] I continue to dig into any and all water sampling reports as well as events that occurred on the Schwartz well leading up to the most recent seep (a gas kick and the need to re-cement - often indicative of seep activity). We also have learned that formation gas was found in one of the monitor wells near our water well, but of course, no one notified us. To say that this information is difficult to come by is an understatement, but bits and pieces are coming together. Meanwhile, I've created a new illustrated page to highlight HYDRAULIC FRACTURING and the threat it poses to fresh water supplies (the reason it is specifically excepted from the Safe Drinking Water Act). Geology, private water wells, natural gas drilling, methane contamination - the unholy relationship is exposed here. Week 52 - Happy anniversary buggers from hell. But, there are some pretty pictures of a harvest untouched by wildlife. Still no ground water testing. Some surface testing has finally occurred [September 25th]- but no results yet. Week 53 - Some sampling has finally occurred; In the News: Corruption at the Denver Interior Dept.; Rules Watered Down; Gov. Ritter stands up; Health Warnings against Toxic Emissions; permits on the rise.... The "Phase Two" hydrogeologic study commissioned by the county is complete, and raises serious concerns about drilling and fresh water contamination (finally). S.S. Papodopulos's conclusions were vague, thin and neatly wrapped in politically safe language. Dr. Thyne of Science Based Solutions, however, analyzed the data and drafted his own assessment. His warning of the risk of methane contamination to water supplies from drilling operations as they are currently conducted is dire, as it should be. The elk are down from the high country as are the mule deer. Beaver are back at Turkey Point, but only one young. [12-12-08] Beaver have left once again - after amassing a large pile of winter food. Resurgent GroundWater, More Iron-Reducing Bacteria, Gas Build up in Divide Creek, Vegetation Kill..., you know, the usual drilling cocktail of environmental destruction and COGCC denial Divide Creek Seep - page nine has been added, as new developments include a resurgence of the ground water that diminished earlier this fall. It resurged as of November 10th - likely under pressure of gas moving to the surface. Along with it there is a renewed proliferation of what I can only assume is orange-reducing bacteria (even more than before) on the south seep opposite the beaver hooch. The source of this south-side aspect appears to be from an upwelling approximately 30 feet further south. The two areas of groundwater upwelling share simultaneous dynamics in that they both upwell and subside at the same time. The south-side aspect is also very near the gas accumulation in the creek-bed (continuing) and is adjacent to a very large area of ground where no vegetation will grow. COGCC visited the area and sampled one of the ponded areas where the ground water is expressing to the surface. On December 12th I filed a formal complaint with the COGCC relative to massive tracts of land that are experiencing vegetation die-off emanating form the Schwartz pad. I also think I've figured out what has occurred and spelled it out in a letter to the COGCC. [12-15-08] I am quietly celebrating Obama's recent appointment of a scientist to the Dept of Energy and a defender of the environment as new head of the EPA. One can only thank God and hope for their confirmations. Martin wins County re-election. Yippee figgin' skippy. I called John Martin, congratulated him on his electoral victory, told him I was miserable he had won, and invited him to a cup of coffee next time he's in the area. He agreed it might be a good opportunity. My hope is that we can gain a better appreciation for one another's conflicting perspectives. Goodness knows I cannot fathom some of his decisions regarding gas development in the county. But he did win the election, so I feel like I should make a sincere effort to understand his reasoning. Those are the highlights.
[12-16-08] The "BUST" slowly unfolds even as industry blames responsible development (then, secretly, itself) for its profiteering woes. Larger area operators flood the local papers and hold meetings with business leaders on news they are cutting operations in half. They, of course, blame the new state rules (yet to be released) on their curtailment. All this, while in their own professional medial outlets they lament low gas prices and a glut of supply due to their own over-zealous and aggressive development of the resource. What schmucks. One representative form Grand Junction seized on the propaganda and blamed the rules also. Sad, sad, sad. Sadder still, some folks actually fall for it.
New Rules Finalized - COGCC and EnCana Sued. The new COGCC rules - full of industry-favoring loopholes - are at last finalized which sadly fall far short of addressing the imminent threats against public health and environmental integrity - but, as suspected, industry will soon be off to harass legislators, many of whom will predictably fold under pressure to weaken the rules even further. Ho hum. A wasted year of misplaced hope. And Obama's plan for sustainable energy? Well, so far, indications are that industry has already gotten to him. Industry journals tout the need to drive federal energy policy toward more natural gas exploration and development in order to secure the industry and of course even more subsidized profits -- hence T. Boone Picken's 'humanitarian and environmentally-conscious' plan to make us all more dependent by converting vehicles, thereby creating a market where none currently exists. Isn't it heartwarming when a billionaire entrepreneur influences policy for the good of mankind and the planet? The final results of the rule-making process yielded precious little actual protection for wildlife, people or the environment. No wildlife moratorium. Operators can still plunk a rig within 150 feet of a watershed ( Bear in mind EnCana's massive blowout from the Schwartz well in 2004 polluted West Divide Creek with benzene around a mile away). Despite all the sane arguments for preventing rigs from drilling 150 feet from someone's home and storing thousands of gallons of flammable, carcinogenic fuels on-site at the same distance - the COGCC in it's infinite wisdom still allows both. Chemicals can still be stored on site, but must be disclosed in quantities over 500 pounds. I wonder how much damage 499 pounds of a spilled carcinogen could cause? We may never know, because they don't have to tell us. In the beginning, there was great, great promise for these rules to finally act to protect the public's interests; but, industry has whined and muscled and gotten their way yet again - and they still aren't happy. What could have been a streamlined framework balancing corporate desire for fast and massive profit, with the public's right to a livable environment has become yet another toothless governmental colossus. Several families and the Western Colorado Congress have filed a lawsuit against the director of the COGCC and EnCana to prevent drilling within a former underground nuclear blast site. Now, you'd think the COGCC would exercise a little more caution in such a situation. But, then, you look at what's been done to the rules, and there you go. You'd think EnCana would exercise a little more restraint, but as we've seen from the Wall Street and Mortgage industry examples, corporate execs aren't terribly distracted by moral or just behavior when regulations are wiped off the table. It does show one thing, though. Facilitated greed knows no limits. |
| Week 58
|
Elk hang out around Schwartz site; EnCana trashes the access road with mag-chloride; Dirty politics from a Dirtier Industry as fake newspaper attempts to ruin credibility of Democratic candidates; Our own investigation in to the 2008 Divide Creek Seep continues; Our letters to the Editor re: Need for Martin to Move on (law-enforcement conflict of interest and private property / man camp conflicts; Finally, corrupt Garfield County government exposed by insiders; Must see Video - "Out of Balance" | October 27 - November 02, 2008 |
| Week 67
|
At long last - truth about risks to ground
and surface water. Dr. Geoffrey Thyne's long awaited conclusions are now available. Also, and equally important, is his PowerPoint presentation conducted before the County Commissioners and Citizens who were the focus of the study. But, sadly, there is also more of the same.... as COGCC promises a letter outlining and defending their position while continuing to refuse appropriate sampling. |
December 29, 2008 - January 04, 2009 |
| Week 68 | we await results.... (no link to this week) | January 05 - 11 |
\
| Week 69
|
We've received from the COGCC a summary account of sampling
conduced in the fall of 2008 relative to the 2008 gas seep in West Divide
Creek. In that 9-page summary, the COGCC denies the
existence of any seep, nor any impacts related to drilling activities. In
another set of documents, it was also finally revealed that produced
formation gas was detected in the ground water at the same time the 2008
seep was discovered. That information was not made available until 6 months
later. Despite this clear evidence of impacts to aquatic and terrestrial
health caused by drilling - likely attributable to a gas kick nearly
identical to the one that caused the 2004 blow-out, the COGCC still denies
any impacts. EnCana remains silent save for the sounds of drilling machinery
and operations. Meanwhile, the clear effects of a natural gas seep
continue. And, the wildlife have yet to return. So, the results of COGCC's sampling efforts are in - and so are EnCana's ground water sampling records from months previous revealing drilling impacts to West Divide Creek from produced gas. Thermogenic (produced formation gas) has been detected in ground water - including on one occasion at the same time the 2008 seep was discovered. Further, we learned that the gas-kick which occurred during drilling on the Schwartz and which likely caused the 2008 (and on-going) seep, reached the same pressure (500 psi) as the kick that caused the massive 2004 blow-out. Despite all of this, however, the COGCC continues to deny adverse impacts; any possible connection to impacts from drilling activities; and, continues to refuse common-sense testing of gas bubbles in the creek, soils and dead vegetation around the pad site, as well as ground water at the seep site. COGCC summary letter of findings; Our response to COGCC's flawed conclusions. |
January 12 - 18
|
| Week 70
|
A new and promising era begins as Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office; my hope...; How shall we be poisoned? Let's begin with toxic air emissions; In the News... scientists find alarming levels of harmful ozone around natural gas drilling sites / New Yorkers freak out about risk to unfiltered drinking water - as well they should / new threat of radioactive waste from natural gas production - yippy friggin' skippy; Didn't Mr. Obama ask to be told if he did something stupid? Welcome to the latest feature of this website.... | January 19 - 25
|
| Week 71
|
An insider reveals clues as to the scope of ineptitude
within the COGCC; The COGCC Stooges: in the Case of the Dead Grass;
Grapevine Dispatch: Has EnCana Now Polluted Our
Aquifer?
Rumors among neighbors - silence form industry and
regulators; Consortium of the Frac'd (don't
miss it - especially if you're next in line); Tresi Houpt under attack
as our Dear Leader - John Martin tries to put her
under a cone of silence and inappropriately influence her ability to
represent her constituency; Bird-Brained vs. Hare-Brained Economic Plan. In February EnCana experienced yet another drilling incident where gas co-mingled with groundwater. Despite a reasonable threat to resident's drinking water supplies, neither EnCana nor the COGCC informed residents. Neighbors learned of the incident through the grapevine. The circumstances surrounding this event remain undisclosed despite our requests for information from both the COGCC and EnCana. |
January 26 - February 01
|
| Week 72
|
Letter from the EPA; Holy Crap! It's a FRAC ATTACK In The News!.... some hype.... some fight.... some hope (wait until you read the article about a farmer's cow bleeding from the eyes and kicking her stomach as she died... the necropsy report said she died of moldy hay... couldn't have been from the methane that suddenly showed up in the water - and you know what else? Methane is considered non-toxic. Hope it doesn't get in your water; Another one bites the dust as a Champion gets demoted; Get Your News On!; How Grandmas can teach Democrats and Republicans a thing or two about economics | February 01 - 08
|
| Week 73
|
On the canyon rim above Summerhawk, EnCana erects
the Twin Creek rig, harassing a nesting pair of eagles on the cliff's edge
where they are now drilling approximately a quarter mile from the 2008 seep
site (where groundwater and bubbles in West Divide Creek remain unexamined);
Elk - nowhere left to go....;
Air Quality Presentation
at GVCA meeting;
Sootypaws: Molly and George begin tracking natural gas development in
Appalachia through their blog;
Health Study Link re: exposure to benzene, etc....; In the News: Groundwater depletion;
industry's assault on state legislatures to exempt hydraulic fracing from
safe drinking water regulations; Cancer,
Canada and W-5 Expose: people poisoned, intimidated,
threatened, driven from their homes and truly forsaken in the name of
"cheap", "clean" energy, EnCana, Bombings,
Ranchers win legal battle in sour gas/calf mortality connection, WORC
introduces proposed changes to Hard Rock Mining Act |
February 09 - 15
|
| Week 74
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Prayers for a fellow-forsaken; DOW looks for Eagle nesting sites - Eagles are screwed; New Citizen Advocacy Resource; New Health Study Resource; New Resources added to the Frac Primer; What You Need to Know - A Practical Guide to Covering Your Ass; Gunky Eye makes a comeback; Ethane and Propane found in our ground water samples; Last week was so darned depressing, so this week - let's play! Announcing FRAC ATTACK! The Board Game!; In the News: Pinedale sounds off / GOP strengthens end-run around safe drinking water protections / Gov. Richardson sells out.... / NY Regulators admit they know nothing about fracing effects + toon! | February 16 - 22
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| Week 75
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Discovery of two EnCana drilling incidents that implicate our community groundwater safety; Does a 'Journey' Champion hang from a puppet's string? We'll see tonight on Larry King; Tweaks to Frac Modeling Page and Cover Your Ass guide; New Heroes; Geronimo - does his spirit fight on? More communities inducted into the Consortium; In the News: Health Study finds Barnett Shale oil and gas development responsible for smog in Texas / Mesa County stirs the pot and continues to blame common sense rules (that still fall far short of adequate) for the economic slow-down that has befallen the entire world / COGCC and EnCana refute the presence of thermogenic gas in our ground water / The oil and gas industry organizes a new lobby - I guess total domination just isn't enough / EnCana shovels cash at the Texas DOW, 'cause they love critters so much, I guess. What else could it be?.... | February 23 - March 01
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| Week 76
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Ethane and Propane in Our Groundwater - and why it's an indicator of a larger problem; Condensate spill in Rifle as truck hits the skids - what's in condensate? Why worry?; T. "Boondoggle" Pickens goes on "The View".... | March 02 - March 08 |
| Week 77 |
This week I took part in a lobby trip to Washington DC to discuss, among other things, the importance of repealing the exemption of fracing fluids from the Safe Drinking Water act. Man, did I get an education. I presented a report and did my thing, but there is some important stuff to share, so this weekly update is taking me a little while. Should have it up by week 79, though. | March 09 - March 15 |
| Week 78
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In a formal presentation to Garfield County Commissioners (Martin and Samson), I asked the county to request the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to reinstate the drilling moratorium in our area until an investigation could be completed. They agreed. / We've learned that the COGCC wants to make us the subject of yet another experiment and allow EnCana to over-pressurize the formation. We've written the director and asked him to reconsider this outrageously idiotic idea. / In the News: Whistleblower protections; Water rights snapped up by industry; States pressure feds to back off any rule changes; Fault physics reveal interplay between gas and water underground; Liquor raid at EnCana man camp; Texas beef suck up drilling pit waste - how about a little benzene-based steak sauce?; PA ready to sacrifice people for energy.... | March 16 - March 22
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| Week 79
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Still no word from COGCC on pressurization of formation or any of the incidents which may have risked our community's groundwater, and, of course, EnCana remains quiet as well - except for their relentless drilling at all hours....; | March 23 - March 29 |
| Week 80
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A neighbor shares documents that raise serious questions about data tampering and whether EnCana has frac'd into the aquifer; COGCC finally sheds light on why we've been seeing continuous environmental degradation since 2006 - they have been allowing EnCana to pressurize the formation all along; New COGCC rules take effect this week, as everyone ducks the gorilla... Ft. Lupton joins the Consortium; EnCana's top dog rakes in millions - amid EnCana's half million donation to an environmental exhibit. It is indeed a week for fools. | March 30 - April 05
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| Week 81 |
Bill Barret submits a permit to install an waste disposal (injection) well in the area. As if we didn't have enough problems - EnCana touts economic incentives to follow suit; Durango adopts a water protection resolution!; Fort Lupton oil and gas victim starts kicking ass and taking names. | April 06 - April 12 |
| Week 82
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EnCana accelerates hydraulic fracturing operations ahead of Garfield County's environmental -engineering review. Do you think they suspect that if people really knew what they were getting away with back here on Divide Creek, they might actually get shut down? I think so. Despite our and other neighbor's protests, the COGCC Director has given EnCana the green light, citing fracturing as "separate" from the drilling process. The County weighs in on my request for an injunction next week. In the news - EnCana screws up more ground water! Whaddya know? / Canada's Evil Bill 19 - paving way for companies like EnCana / EPA steps up to take on air emissions! | April 13 - April 19
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| Week 83 |
EnCana Does Earth Day, with a Frac-1, Frac-2 Nine-Well Frac You! Garfield County says - 'nada' on requesting injunction; ProPublica and Denver Post bring more truth to methane-ground water connection.... EnCana's water consultant coins new term "Junk Science" - they ought to write a book... / lawsuit settlement brings HOPE for Allegheny National Forest | April 20 - April 26
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| Week 84 (no link)
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I received a call this week from the Director of the
COGCC informing me that the
COGCC Commissioners have decided to hold a
2-day hearing on the West Divide Creek issues as well as Rulison issues
tentatively around July 14th and 15th - in the Glenwood Springs of Rifle
area. This is very good news, but it's closing the door after the horses
have left the barn, so how beneficial it is to preserving what is left of
the hydro-geologic integrity back here remains to be seen. Update added June 21, 2010: This hearing turned out to be a joke, as half-expected. The COGCC arranged five or so "experts" from industry to help defend its environmental department's take on the situation - which has been to ignore and mischaracterize it. Basically both the state and three industry scientists dog-piled Garfield County's scientific consultant, Dr. Thyne, but unable to defeat his premise, they attacked the limitations of the data emphasizing the public database of water samples was never intended, therefore designed to prove such a link. It was a classic and very pitiful attempt to make an end-run around a very real probability proposed by Dr. Thyne.
To hear an audio transcript of the hearing,
visit the COGCC website and follow the steps below: This fiasco and the COGCC's refusal to acknowledge real and measurable impacts from drilling - even between the COGCC environmental department and Garfield County's oil and gas liaison and scientific consultant - has begun to cause frustration between Garfield County and the COGCC. When I appeared before our county in June 2010 to ask them to protest EnCana's proposed installation of ten new wells adjacent to and beneath the still spewing seep, reporters had this to say about the fall-out still occurring a year later - and two years after the 2008 seep was discovered...
"Commissioners refuse to ask the county to ask the
state to halt spill-site drilling" Silt-area
drilling report contentious
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April 27 - May 03
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| Week 85 (no link)
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Sent a letter to the COGCC Director asking that Bill
Barrett Corp.'s application for a waste injection well within the
hydrogeologic/engineering review and former moratorium area (here) be
included in the hearing scheduled for July. Update added June 21, 2010 - Garfield County unanimously approved Barrett's application, despite other areas around the country experiencing geologic disturbances and fouled groundwater from such operations and the high likelihood of it happening here. |
May 04 - May 10
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Week 86
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EnCana wraps up frac operations on the F11E pad and
dozes frac sludge under in an unlined pit over a shallow aquifer already
impacted from drilling operations on the same pad.
[June 21, 2010 - links to the lab
report]
In the News: DeGette challenges hydraulic
fracturing exemptions, and industry rallies the troops; USGS report on
Marcellus gas - and produced water; Texas earthquakes increase with
drilling and waste injection; Health effects from sludge trigger EPA
response. In May I went up to a neighbor's place to talk to Canadian reporters working on a documentary. The reporters wanted to overlook EnCana's frac operations. While there, the neighbor and I observed EnCana ripping the liner out of a frac pit. Later that same afternoon, they buried remaining fluids and dozed the pit under. The pit resides 200 feet above a spring that feeds Divide Creek, the source of our drinking water. The pit sits a couple hundred yards from a neighbor's well (only two hundred feet deep). It also sits adjacent to an irrigation ditch. I watched this activity with a knot in my stomach I cannot even describe. The cavalier, careless manner in which this industry is allowed to operate without regard to human health or safely hit me in a way that just seemed very final. I went home afterward, exhausted, dehydrated and soul-sick, realizing that nothing I do or ever will do is going to improve the way this industry behaves. The fossil fuel industry as a whole represents a deeply established and corrosive culture of horrendous abuse and arrogance. One cannot expect such an industry to behave any differently when it is exempted from common-sense accountability that otherwise resonates across a conscientious society. If someone raised a child in a manner that not only rewarded every tantrum with a cookie, but the cookies of all that child's companions, they would not have reared a very socially responsibly or even self-aware adult. For over a hundred years, this industry has been reared in such a manner. Constantly rewarded with political policies to further inflate its bloated profit line, it is little wonder this industry relies on tantrums, threats and promises of lucrative favor to secure and sustain its belligerent dominance. I don't think it knows how to behave any differently. It hasn't had to learn how. And that is such a tragedy. This industry has to potential to lead or at least stride along side a forward moving civilization. Instead of embracing and developing technologies and energy sources aligned with higher objectives, this industry - because it has been allowed, even encouraged to - forces its destructive hand and increasingly threatens all life on our planet. |
May 11 - May 17
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| Bulk Update: June 30, 2010 Almost a year has passed since the last update, due to exhaustive efforts to inspire the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission as well as Garfield County, EnCana and the EPA to investigate the 2008 seep as well as properly investigate the bungled 2004 seep - both of which continue despite re-cementing. Briefly, as the situation degraded and grew more desperate, I revised the homepage with the following special dispatch, updated from June 30, 2010 to November 2010. This was a particularly contentious time as the oil and gas industry continued to pummel West Divide Creek, then proceeded to storm east where they commenced to further devastate Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Virginia and finally upstate New York. The dispatch below was from this time-frame: Two years in, the COGCC still refuses to investigate the 2008 seep, choosing instead to stoically defend its utter failure of leadership and mission... choosing instead to act as an agent of the industry it has been mandated to regulate. But the EPA has no jurisdiction. The department of health and environment has been successfully quarantined, and all the COGCC environmental department has to do is refuse to investigate; all the Director has to do is support that decision; and EnCana's got a done deal. Now - permits pending - EnCana is planning to drill ten new wells adjacent to and beneath the on-going seep still spewing benzene into the shallow groundwater of West Divide Creek. It hardly seems brilliant. In fact, it seems willfully negligent - similar in cause and effect to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. We have no legal standing to intervene in this process. Garfield County could have protested the wells, and I asked them to; but the Commissioners decided it probably wasn't worth trying, and jobs seemed of greater importance. Think the new natural gas boom is for the benefit of getting America off foreign energy sources? Think again. Recently, EnCana Oil and Gas, USA submitted twenty well permits (with at least twenty more on the horizon) to infill drill in our neighborhood... despite 1) low natural gas prices, despite 2) EnCana suing the state of Colorado over new public safety rules (which are by the way utterly toothless) and which they say are driving them from Colorado; and, 3) despite the persistent, increasing and largely un-investigated presence of leaking hydrocarbon toxins into groundwater and private water wells. Why the renewed surge in activity? Could be because China is dumping investment dollars into EnCana's bank account to facilitate extraction of gas for export to China. Tertzakian: Encana-China
natural gas deal points to shifts for North America It's how big companies structure big profit potential, as EnCana demonstrates below: The natural gas industry loves to tout "America's Energy Independence" and they've gotten legions of unblinking followers to parrot it for them. Others, who stop to consider what this industry might be doing to their neighbors, simply shrink behind another of industry's favorite programmed messages: "Well, we use gas, so we can't really complain..." These good folks have no idea that our fossil fuel consumption is forced and secured through ferociously defended, lobby-crafted policy and hugely subsidized development. [Cheney's 2005 Energy Policy]
Big Oil’s Good Deal It's no big secret, it's just large business interests vying for more market share through a political lobbying process (to the tune of $340 million over the last two years) which completely allows and even encourages it. But most folks don't want to be bothered with the truth, so they are made unwitting proponents of their own demise. And off they go chanting, "Drill, baby, drill!" And they are drilling, and drilling and drilling... As I stand helplessly by and watch my neighborhood and community devastated, the wildlife die or be driven away, the air, water and soil polluted - all without simple, common sense protections for people or the environment - it's difficult to comprehend a foreign, global energy giant - one of the largest in the world - aggressively destroying everything I have ever stood for in service to my country... And for what? For the benefit of Communist China's growth. It really is a new world, and I've yet to see anyone in a position of real leadership - Democrat or Republican with any interest beyond their own ass-prints on velveteen chairs. We've only asked for and expected this industry to develop natural gas correctly, safely and accountably, so everyone can benefit - not just greedy shareholders. But this will never happen, not when money - so much money so easily corrupts so many people. I don't like that. But I accept it. This is the reality of our species. It could be made better, for everyone - operators, workers, communities, wildlife - and that is what is so frustrating and sad. Natural gas development can be done in a manner which is far and away safer and saner, so let's do it in way that is beneficial to all. Blanket exemptions from common sense regulations have allowed operators to pursue the cheapest and therefore worst practices in order to economically compete with other operators doing the same. Proper regulation – not over-inflated, useless hooey like we now have here in Colorado - could level the playing field and create better conditions and economic benefit for everyone. But, routinely, even minimum regulation is rejected in favor of fatter profit margins for industry stakeholders. In this enduring scenario, even operators who want to do better devolve into worst practices, which residents in the bull’s eye must try to survive without legal standing. This creates an extraordinarily unbalanced situation toward which the industry is neither cognizant nor accountable How hard is it to crush, even more, someone or something doomed and helpless in industry’s path? The overly-simple polarization of “industry against everyone else” is why natural gas development produces such diametrically opposing viewpoints instead of better-benefiting, as it could, a broader cross-section of our country. The Gulf crises is a mere preview of what is to come all across America. Can we stop it from happening again? Yes, but we won't. Can we make it better? Yes, but we won't. Not in time. There is no will from people or even local, state and federal authorities first in line to receive royalties from ever-expanding, faster development. "Silt-area
drilling report contentious" Attorney: Gas panel’s
ruling is victory for citizens of GarCo
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| March 10, 2011
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Because of the enormous time
commitment required to see the 2008 seep forward to proper
investigation, I only have time to post summary updates on this page. If I
have pictures or data to post, I'll pop in a weekly link, otherwise, this
will begin reading more like a summary timeline as it has been since week
86... All issues specifically related to the 2008 seep will appear on those
dedicated pages (now up to 11).
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Updates Stand
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Creek Seep 2004 Consortium of the Frac'd Site Map (recommended) Home |
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