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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Garfield County commissioners will ask for a meeting with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) to address ongoing concerns about possible water contamination from natural gas drilling in the Divide Creek area.
However, commissioners John Martin and Mike Samson stopped short of honoring area resident Lisa Bracken's request that the county formally protest any further natural gas development within the former Divide Creek moratorium area until more is known about drilling impacts.
Martin said at a Monday meeting with Bracken, county oil and gas liaison Judy Jordan and consultant Geoff Thyne that he agrees the lingering concerns need to be addressed.
“I can go along with all of the recommendations, except the moratorium,” Martin said. “We have to think about the economy and jobs. That has to be a factor.”
The county would, however, like the COGCC to consider bringing 97 older gas wells that pre-dated current gas well standards up to date, and to give more credence to the findings of Thyne, the county's geology consultant for the Divide Creek area.
Bringing the older wells up to modern standards may help determine if natural gas that continues to seep into Divide Creek, and may possibly be the source of domestic water well contamination, is a result of drilling activity in the area, as Thyne has concluded.
So far, though, the COGCC has been unwilling to work with county staff and area residents to address the concerns, and have gone so far as to discredit Thyne's work, Jordan said.
“I have never seen a state agency behave in this fashion,” she wrote in a May 28 memo to the county commissioners. “The correct way to respond to our broaching of water issues would have been to call a meeting with us and [Thyne] to discuss his report and any perceived flaws or differences in interpretation.”
County Commissioner Trési Houpt recused herself from Monday's discussion due to her role as an appointed member of the COGCC. She did say, however, that at a meeting last week she was able to convice the COGCC to meet with Thyne and discuss his findings. That meeting is scheduled for July 8 in Denver, Houpt said.
EnCana Oil and Gas, USA recently applied for approximately 10 new wells in the Divide Creek area. Bracken has requested assistance from the county in opposing those applications on grounds that there's still not enough information on possible groundwater contamination to proceed.
Specifically, one proposed well would be adjacent to and beneath areas that were impacted by a 2004 gas seep which sent hydrocarbons, including cancer-causing benzene, into Divide Creek. The COGCC determined that the seep was a result of an improperly completed nearby gas well. EnCana was fined $378,000 for violating state regulations in constructing the well.
Bracken argues that, since mid-2008, chemical compounds have continued to seep from natural gas formations, breached by drilling operations that began in 2004, into West Divide Creek and possibly into ground water in the area.
The COGCC imposed a moratorium on drilling in the area for about a year so the source of the problem could be studied. Since then, however, government and industry officials agreed the moratorium should be lifted.
“Other drilling developments have been and are planned, none of which are appropriate to the immediate vicinity of known seeps,” Bracken wrote in a letter to the county commissioners.
Jordan added in her memo that, while the COGCC has attempted to discredit Thyne's findings, his work has been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal.
“The [county commissioners] should consider supporting his presentations to the scientific community, as many regions of the country are in need of a greater factual understanding of the effects of natural gas development,” Jordan concluded in her memo.
jstroud@postindependent.com
However, commissioners John Martin and Mike Samson stopped short of honoring area resident Lisa Bracken's request that the county formally protest any further natural gas development within the former Divide Creek moratorium area until more is known about drilling impacts.
Martin said at a Monday meeting with Bracken, county oil and gas liaison Judy Jordan and consultant Geoff Thyne that he agrees the lingering concerns need to be addressed.
“I can go along with all of the recommendations, except the moratorium,” Martin said. “We have to think about the economy and jobs. That has to be a factor.”
The county would, however, like the COGCC to consider bringing 97 older gas wells that pre-dated current gas well standards up to date, and to give more credence to the findings of Thyne, the county's geology consultant for the Divide Creek area.
Bringing the older wells up to modern standards may help determine if natural gas that continues to seep into Divide Creek, and may possibly be the source of domestic water well contamination, is a result of drilling activity in the area, as Thyne has concluded.
So far, though, the COGCC has been unwilling to work with county staff and area residents to address the concerns, and have gone so far as to discredit Thyne's work, Jordan said.
“I have never seen a state agency behave in this fashion,” she wrote in a May 28 memo to the county commissioners. “The correct way to respond to our broaching of water issues would have been to call a meeting with us and [Thyne] to discuss his report and any perceived flaws or differences in interpretation.”
County Commissioner Trési Houpt recused herself from Monday's discussion due to her role as an appointed member of the COGCC. She did say, however, that at a meeting last week she was able to convice the COGCC to meet with Thyne and discuss his findings. That meeting is scheduled for July 8 in Denver, Houpt said.
EnCana Oil and Gas, USA recently applied for approximately 10 new wells in the Divide Creek area. Bracken has requested assistance from the county in opposing those applications on grounds that there's still not enough information on possible groundwater contamination to proceed.
Specifically, one proposed well would be adjacent to and beneath areas that were impacted by a 2004 gas seep which sent hydrocarbons, including cancer-causing benzene, into Divide Creek. The COGCC determined that the seep was a result of an improperly completed nearby gas well. EnCana was fined $378,000 for violating state regulations in constructing the well.
Bracken argues that, since mid-2008, chemical compounds have continued to seep from natural gas formations, breached by drilling operations that began in 2004, into West Divide Creek and possibly into ground water in the area.
The COGCC imposed a moratorium on drilling in the area for about a year so the source of the problem could be studied. Since then, however, government and industry officials agreed the moratorium should be lifted.
“Other drilling developments have been and are planned, none of which are appropriate to the immediate vicinity of known seeps,” Bracken wrote in a letter to the county commissioners.
Jordan added in her memo that, while the COGCC has attempted to discredit Thyne's findings, his work has been accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal.
“The [county commissioners] should consider supporting his presentations to the scientific community, as many regions of the country are in need of a greater factual understanding of the effects of natural gas development,” Jordan concluded in her memo.
jstroud@postindependent.com
