1.7 Million Gallons of Toxic Oil and Gas Liquids Unrecovered in Weld County Colorado

.........................................................................

February 27, 2012

Ms. Tisha Schuller
Colorado Oil and Gas Association
1660 Lincoln Street, Suite 2710
Denver, CO  80264

Dear Ms. Schuller,

It has recently come to our attention that your Association has paid for and is airing a radio advertisement about drilling and fracking in Colorado.  The ad is here: http://www.coga.org/audio/Gov_Hickenlooper_HF_Rule_30sec.mp3

This ad contains this sentence:  “Since then [2008] we have not had one instance of groundwater contamination association with drilling and hydraulic fracturing.” 

This sentence is not correct.

Specifically, our organizations have analyzed the 615 “Incident Spill Reports” for oil and gas drilling and fracking reported to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) in just one Colorado County (Weld) from 1/3/2008 – 1/5/2012.  These publicly searchable reports (Table 1 below)available on COGCC’s website reveal that:

1.      44% of spills have contaminated groundwater.

2.      2.8% of spills have contaminated surface water.

3.      40% of spills have resulted in or been caused by berm failures.

Further, we have also reviewed the 1,000 Incident Spill Reports available on COGCC’s website for Weld County, dated 8/28/2003 – 1/05/2012 (the COGCC website only lists the 1,000 most recent reports).  Those reports (table 2 below) reveal that:

1.      43% of spills have contaminated groundwater.

2.      3.1% of spills have contaminated surface water.

3.      43% of spills have resulted in or been caused by berm failures.

These reports are available for each the 40 oil and gas companies operating in Weld County, revealing that bulk of the spills and contamination are due to a handful of companies.

Further yet, we randomly sampled 60 of the 1,000 Spill Incident Reports and extrapolated those results to generate an estimate of fluid contamination.  Those results (Table 3 below) reveal that:

1.      Up to 824,600 gallons of oil have been spilled and “unrecovered” in Weld County.

2.      Up to 383,600 gallons of produced water has been spilled and “unrecovered” in Weld County.

3.      Up to 547,400 gallons of “Other” fluid has been spilled and “unrecovered in Weld County.  (“Other” may include fracking fluids.)

The results above are just for one County, Weld, and do not reflect spills and groundwater contamination in the 41 other Colorado counties in which oil and gas drilling and fracking occur. 

Because the statement in your radio ad is incorrect, we request that you correct the ad or remove it from the airwaves.

Respectfully,

Shane Davis, Chair, Poudre Canyon Group of the Sierra Club, shane.davis@rmc.sierraclub.org, 509-570-4422

Gary Wockner, PhD, Colorado Program Director, Clean Water Action, gwockner@cleanwater.org, 970-218-8310

1/3/2008 - 1/5/2012	271 YES	17 YES	246 YES
	344 NO	598 NO	369 NO
GW CONTAM	44.0%	YES
GW CONTAM	56.0%	NO
SURFACE H2O CONTAM	2.8%	YES
SURFACE H2O CONTAM	97.2%	NO
BERM CONTAINED	40.0%	YES
BERM CONTAINED	60.0%	NO

Table 1

		INCIDENT SPILL REPORTS
			271 YES	17 YES	246 YES
2008		GW CONTAM	44.0%	YES
		GW CONTAM	56.0%	NO
		SURFACE H2O CONTAM	2.8%	YES
		SURFACE H2O CONTAM	97.2%	NO
		BERM CONTAINED	40.0%	YES
		BERM CONTAINED	60.0%	NO

Table 2:

Company Name	Ground Water	Surface Water	Berm Contained
TOTAL 1000 SPILL INCIDENT REPORTS	427 YES	31 YES	429 YES
40 OPERATORS –WELD COUNTY	563 NO	969 NO	571 NO
TOTAL PERCENTAGE FROM 1000 SPILL REPORTS	GW CONTAM	42.7%	YES
	GW CONTAM	56.3%	NO
	SURFACE H2O CONTAM	3.1%	YES
	SURFACE H2O CONTAM	96.9%	NO
	BERM CONTAINED	42.9%	YES
	BERM CONTAINED	57.1%	NO
Company Name	Ground Water Contamination	Surface Water Contamination	Berm Not Contained
BAYSWATER EXPL AND PROD LLC   * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
BLUE CHIP  * 2 reported	50.0%	0.0%	100.0%
BONANZA CREEK  * 21 reported	16.0%	11.0%	63%
CDM  * 1 reported	0.0%	100.0%	100%
CHESAPEAKE  * 4 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0%
COLTON  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
CONQUEST  * 5 reported	0.0%	0.0%	20.0%
DIAMOND  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
DUKE  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
EDDY  * 3 reported	67.0%	0.0%	100.0%
ENCANA  * 46 reported	44.0%	4.0%	61.0%
ENERVEST  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
EOG  * 4 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
FOUNDATION  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
FOUNTAINHEAD  * 3 reported	100.0%	0.0%	34.0%
GREAT WESTERN  * 2 reported	0.0%	0.0%	50.0%
GRYNBERG  * 3 reported	0.0%	0.0%	34.0%
HIGH PLAINS DISPOSAL  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
HYNDREX  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
KP KAUFMAN  * 23 reported	13.0%	30.0%	91.0%
KERR MCGEE  * 391 reported	59.0%	2.0%	47.0%
LONE STAR  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
MACHII   * 6 reported	17.0%	17.0%	100.0%
MATRIX  * 2 reported	50.0%	0.0%	0.0%
MERIT  *15 reported	20.0%	0.0%	47.0%
MINERAL  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
MONAHAN  *3 reported	0.0%	0.0%	67.0%
NOBLE  * 236 reported	31.0%	2.0%	69.0%
PATINA  * 20 reported	30.0%	0.0%	30.0%
PETRO CANADA  *29 reported	45.0%	0.0%	62.0%
PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT  *158 reported	47.0%	3.0%	67.0%
PRIMA  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
RED WILLOW  * 3 reported	0.0%	0.0%	33.0%
STARLIGHT  * 3 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
SYNERGY  * 2 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
TEXAS AMERICAN RESOURCES *2 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
TOP OPERATORS * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	100.0%
US EXPLORATION  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
WALSH PRODUCTIONS  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
WINDSOR  * 1 reported	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%

Weld County “Spill Release Reports" (08/28/2003 - 01/05/2012)
	60 Randomly Picked	If 60 statistically represent 1,000, estimated	Estimated Unrecovered Fluid (1,000 reports)
Spill Area (square feet)	146,717,366	2,445,289,440
Oil Spilled (gal)	65,646	1,094,100
Oil Unrecovered (gal)	49,476	824,600	824,600
Produced Water Spilled (gal)	31,164	519,400
Produced Water Unrecovered (gal)	23,016	383,600	383,600
Other Spilled (gal)	34,104	568,400
Other Unrecovered (gal)	32,844	547,400	547,400
Total Estimated Unrecovered Fluid (gal)			1,755,600