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Gasfield Justice |
Garden Gulch Waste Pit Spills (3/20/08 press release) Four large spills totalling over one million gallons in an area known as "Garden Gulch" north of Parachute have locals concerned about the quality of their irrigation water. The frozen waste water, much of it trapped in a huge ice waterfall, is starting to melt. The Garden Gulch area drains into west Parachute Creek, a source of irrigation water for many local landowners and the entire Town of Parachute . The spill that was first uncovered months ago has resulted in a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) investigation into the spills but little to no information has been shared with the public. Industry often uses a number of chemicals in the drilling of a well. Drilling muds typically use lubricants during the drilling process. Hydraulic fracturing can use any number of chemicals that are forced into the ground to fracture the gas-bearing rock formation to make the well more productive. The waste water that comes up from these wells can contain toxic or carcinogenic chemicals from the drilling process as well as petroleum by-products (condensates) that are also found in the rock. Concern about the water quality has led Parachute resident Sid Lindauer and the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance to file a formal complaint with the COGCC. In the complaint, they argue the new legislation that was passed last year requires the involvement of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment as well as the Colorado Division of Wildlife in responding to a spill. The COGCC is in the process of adopting new rules to offer more protection to public health and the environment and to involve the Division of Wildlife and the Department of Health and Environment, but those regulations have not been written yet. Regulations that have been discussed in stakeholder meetings on new COGCC rulemaking would require the industry to disclose what chemicals they used in drilling within 24 hours of a spill. Draft COGCC rules are expected in early April. In 2007 the State Legislature passed legislation requiring the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to write new rules with the Colorado Dept of Public Health and the Division of Wildlife to better protect wildlife and the general public during oil and gas operations. Rule-making must be completed by July 2008. The COGCC held work sessions in early 2008 on proposed regulations to improve the old and gas industry's responsiveness to health and wildlife issues. WCC wants to see the regs strengthened in key areas. The COGCC's proposed regs should be released by the end of April. This effort is a result of WCC's number one success in the 2007 state legislature, the passage of House Bill (HB) 1341 to reform the COGCC. HB 1341:
Two other important bills passed in last year's state legislature. HB 1252 - the Colorado Landowners Protection Bill - requires that: 1) oil and gas companies minimize their impact to the surface; 2) unreasonable use of the surface gives a landowner a cause of action (to bring a lawsuit); and 3) in any litigation, the burden of proof is on companies - not landowners - to demonstrate their reasonable use of the surface. HB 1298 makes protecting wildlife resources part of the COGCC's mission and ensures that the Division of Wildlife plays a more prominent role in protecting wildlife in the face of oil & gas development. Recent Updates You can read and download all of the following items as Adobe Acrobat PDF files (If you don't have it already, click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader).
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Garden Gulch Photos Click photo for full-size image. Photos from COGCC.
Download a pdf version of Your Land, Your Rights for Garfield, Delta and Rio Blanco Counties. Call 970-249-1978 to request a copy of the new version for Montrose, Mesa, Ouray and San Miguel Counties. Click here for a sample Surface Use Agreement with a supplemental Exhibit between a surface landowner and an owner of underlying mineral rights. |
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to protect and enhance their quality of life in western Colorado. |
PO Box 1931, Grand Junction, CO 81502; phone (970) 256-7650; fax (970) 245-0686 |