Two Homes Built On Top of a 34 Year Old Abandoned Oil and Gas Well-Bore and Liquid Waste Evaporation Pit in Longmont Colorado?

According to data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), it appears that the LeFevre 1-17 (gas well), with a total vertical depth of 7,075 feet was drilled in 1982 by Martin Exploration with the GPS location of 40.139756 - 105.143321 and facility ID #206626.

This location indicates that the abandoned well is in the backyard of a Longmont, Colorado resident located at: 3464 Larkspur Drive.

Abandoned gas well appears to be in home owner's back-yard (bottom left) and an abandoned  liquid waste evaporation pit in another home owner's yard (3465 Larkspur Drive)

The LeFevre 1-17 oil and gas well-casing is thirty four years old, and according a comprehensive study conducted by Schlumberger Oil and Gas, 'uncontrolled migration of hydrocarbons to the surface has been a challenge to the oil and gas industry.'

Oil and Gas Operator 'Couldn't Find Well' - that seems to be a problem

The Schlumberger well-casing failure study shows that 'gas migration, also called annular flow, can lead to sustained casing pressure (SCP), which can be characterized as the development of annular pressure at the surface that can be bled to zero, but then builds again.' This is an indication of an unstable zonal isolation below ground. Imagine an explosive gas hiccup that could occur at any moment without warning.

Sustained casing pressure of plugged and abandoned wells are a significant problem affecting many wells around the world and the age of the the well-casing has a direct correlation to failure rates. Sixty percent of all well-casing studied that were 28 years old had experienced fluid/gas migrations or (SCP).

Schlumberger well casing failure study LINK

All well-casings fail over time and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, (COGCC), and Governor John Hickenlooper know the inherent dangers they are forcing on the public, and should never allow the development of homes on-top or even near these potential catastrophic hazards.

Their actions are reckless endangerment at the highest level, and the home owners are innocently unaware of the willful acts of those involved that continue to maximize profit at the peril of citizens.

Sadly, last month in Firestone, a fatal house explosion killed two men by an explosion caused by a flow-line seeping methane into the basement of the home that ignited. This tragedy could have been prevented, and all future catastrophes can be prevented if the state acts in a manner consistent with public health, safety and environment with regards to oil and gas development.

If, according to the oil and gas giant Schlumberger, 60% of all well casings that are 28 years old fail and allow gases and liquids to migrate outwards, potentially into homes, how many more incidents like Firestone will occur and is your home next?

Application to Permit to Drill

LIQUID WASTE EVAPORATION PIT DATA - USED BY OIL AND GAS OPERATOR

Oil and gas evaporation pits are used by the industry to dump their liquid industrial waste fluids.  An evaporation pit is created by digging a hole into the earth and for liquid waste disposal through evaporation.

Most of the evaporation pits were crude, unlined (earthen) holes in the ground where much of the heavy chemicals sank to the bottom and leached into the ground while the lighter chemicals evaporated into the airspace above.

What a criminal way to dispose of toxic byproducts. The industry has always found ways of making money at the expense of public health, safety and environment.

CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE

Evaporation pits in use and then back-filled (covered up) Click Image

The questions are: Do you have a well under or near your home? Do you have a right to know if your home was developed in an area with abandoned oil and gas wells? Should the state be liable for allowing your home to be build on-top or near an abandoned oil and gas well?

Contact me and I'll let you know if you have an abandoned oil and gas well or evaporation pit under or near your home.

By the way, what's the blast radius of a well-bore blowout?



Sign petition to immediately halt all oil and gas activity in residential neighborhoods.


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Maps Showing Where Horizontal Shale Targets Exist in Colorado - Is Your Backyard Next?

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN ALL OIL AND GAS WELLS IN ALL CITIES IN COLORADO | PETITION

SIGN HERE

Petition by SHANE DAVIS

To be delivered to The Colorado State House, The Colorado State Senate, and Governor John Hickenlooper

An abandoned gas line that had never been disconnected from a nearby well was at the root of a deadly home explosion in Firestone, CO on April 17. Two people died in the gas explosion and another in critical condition. 

This tragedy could have been prevented. The lives of Colorado citizens and the environment are still in imminent and grave danger due to you allowing the development and operation of oil and gas wells in occupied neighborhoods, elementary schools, playgrounds, public spaces, rivers, hospitals all across Colorado.


SIGN PETITION HERE



GOVERNOR JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER 


WE DEMAND: 

1.  SHUTTING DOWN ALL OIL AND GAS WELLS IN ALL RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND OUTLYING AREAS IN THE STATE OF COLORADO. AN IMMEDIATE INJUNCTION SHOULD BE PLACED ON ALL OIL AND GAS ACTIVITY. 

2.  MECHANICAL INTEGRITY TESTS BE CONDUCTED IMMEDIATELY ON ALL ACTIVE AND ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELLS IN COLORADO. 

3.  CLOSURE OF THE 'SETBACK LOOPHOLE.' In 2012 I discovered a Setback Loophole and introduced a bill to close it – but the unfortunately, the bill died. COGCC Rule 602(d) states: “Existing wells are exempt from the provisions of these regulations as they relate to the location of the well.” This Setback Loophole allows any ‘completed’ well to be re-entered and re-drilled regardless of proximity to a structure. And home developers are exempt from any state setbacks from oil and gas operations. This appears to be reckless endangerment and must cease and desist immediately. 

4.  IMPLEMENTING A ‘REVERSE SETBACK’ for commercial developers that is based on good science health studies and current failure data to ascertain a distance from oil and gas wells that provides public health, safety and welfare and environment. 

5.   'CLOSURE OF THE 'WAIVER LOOPHOLE'  
The ‘Waiver Loophole’ allows any operator to not abide by any rule or regulation regarding oil and gas development and operations that causes them ‘undue financial burden.’With a single sentence from the oil and gas industry that states “abiding by this rule will cause XYZ operator and its operations undue financial burden” the industry then does not have to abide by the rule or pay its expense to do so, and is then waived by a simple signature of COGCC Director Matt Lepore. 

6.  THE COGCC PLACE AN IMMEDIATE HALT ON THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS not yet approved or applied for as of the March 23 Martinez verdict, and to begin a balanced process that provided public healthy, safety and environment. 

7.  WE DEMAND OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO SAFETY 

8.  LOCATION AND ID OF ABANDONED WELS AND FLOW-LINES UNDER OR NEAR COLORADO CITIZEN'S HOME AND THE CITIZEN'S SHOULD BE NOTIFIED IMMEDIATELY OF WELL LOCATIONS. 

9. ALL 60,000+ MILES OF FLOW-LINES IN COLORADO BE INSPECTED IMMEDIATELY 


o 17.5% of all fracking industry spills had already caused ground water contamination in a statewide study. 

o 40% of spills contaminated groundwater in Weld County, where Firestone is located. My studies, were confirmed accurate three years later by Matt Lepore, Director of the COGCC. If any company had contaminated groundwater at a 40% rate they would no doubt be shut down 

On June 12, 2012 I attended a fracking study session in Loveland, Co where I told the Mayor, planning and zoning commission they could create their own setbacks from fracking industry oil and gas wells. I told them they should locate every active and abandoned well in their city and outlying county and develop new homes away from existing wells in order to protect public health, safety and welfare. I recently contacted the city of Loveland to acquire the recording of said presentation, and they said that they 'purged it from their system.' It no longer exists. 

In 2011 the COGCC requested emergency funding in Florence, CO for explosive levels of methane seeping into more than a dozen homes from an abandoned well more than 1,000’ away. The homes had to be 
immediately evacuated. For perspective, the home in Firestone was 170’ away from an abandoned well. 

There are COGCC documents that illustrate numerous homes in Colorado are build on top of abandoned oil and gas wells and in a few cases, the home exploded due to methane seepage into the basements. One person was taken to the burn center.

These are some of the imposed dangers you have placed upon us Governor John Hickenlooper, and it is time to cease and desist what appears to be reckless endangerment of Colorado citizens. In addition, commercial developers can develop closer to oil and gas wells than the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissions’ (COGCC) setbacks allow. 

I warned the Governor and COGCC  that an incident like Firestone would happen. He ignored me. He ignored the COGCC's own failures and in doing so, he failed to prevent the Firestone catastrophe from happening. There is no doubt a catastrophic tragedy like Firestone or worse, will happen again if the State of Colorado does not act immediately to pass statewide laws that protect the “civil rights to safety” of Colorado citizens and that of the environment and not favor the oil and gas industry. 

LINK TO SIGN PETITION

LINK TO FURTHER DATA

SETBACK LOOPHOLE AND COGCC FAILURES

 LINK TO DEAR GOVERNOR HICKENLOOPER FILM

Dear Boulder County Commissioners

Dear Boulder County Commissioners,

Cindy Domenico, Deb Gardner, Elise Jones:

What can I say?

What can I say that I haven't already said for the last seven years of my life to you, other commissioners, city councils, senators, governors, and hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, media everywhere and the entire United States? I have even told the fracking industry the facts on their oil and gas state of failures. 

I will now re-iterate.

I warned everyone an incident like Firestone would happen. The probability exists that an oil and gas related catastrophe in residential neighborhoods will happen when industry infrastructure and realistic setbacks are not created.  There is no doubt a catastrophic tragedy will happen if Boulder County does not act immediately to pass local laws that protect the “civil rights to safety” of Boulder County citizens and that of the environment  and not favor the oil and gas industry.

Firestone, Colorado home exploded in fireball. Two men died.

I have probably reviewed more than a half million Colorado Oil and Gas documents, I have seen documents that illustrate explosive levels of methane and other gases seeping into dozens of homes that had to be evacuated by the COGCC. I have seen documents that show how the Laramie Fox-Hills Aquifer was contaminated with methane and toluene (a fracking fluid) by a well casing leak. Private water wells all over the state have been contaminated by oil and gas operations. Methane and fluid migrations can travel over one mile in distance.

I have seen thousands of spill reports that showed 17.5% of all fracking industry spills had already caused ground water contamination in a statewide study.  And a staggering 40% of spills contaminated groundwater in Weld County, where Firestone is located. My studies, which are nothing more than the COGCC’s own documents, were confirmed accurate three years later by Matt Lepore, Director of the COGCC. If any company had contaminated groundwater at a 40% rate they would no doubt be shut down.

I have reviewed documents that illustrate numerous homes in Colorado are build right on top of abandoned oil and gas wells and in a few cases, the home exploded due to methane seepage into the basements.  One person was taken to the burn center.

In 2011 the COGCC requested emergency funding in Florence, CO for explosive levels of methane seeping into more than a dozen homes from an abandoned well more than 1,000’ away. The homes had to be immediately evacuated.  For perspective, the home in Firestone was 170’ away from an abandoned well.

According to a Cornell University Study: 60% of well-bores fail after 20 years. Meaning; the structural integrity of wellbores degrade, corrode, crack and fall apart after twenty years.

There are six abandoned wells in Boulder City proper that are over 80 years old that appear to be in homeowner’s backyards or underneath or near occupied homes.  There are nearly one dozen other abandoned wells that exist in the surrounding areas of the City of Boulder.

There is an 80+ year old abandoned well under Valmont reservoir and two abandoned wells the same age on the beaches of the Boulder Reservoir where, >300,000 people visit annually. There is also an abandoned oil and gas well from the 1930’s less than 200’ feet from Creekside Elementary School. Nearly the same distance as the well in Firestone.

BOULDER, COLORADO

On June 12, 2012 I attended a fracking study session in Loveland, Co where I told the Mayor, planning and zoning commission they could create their own setbacks from fracking industry oil and gas wells.  I told them they should locate every active and abandoned well in their city and outlining county and develop new homes away from existing wells in order to protect public health, safety and welfare.

In 2012 I discovered a Setback Loophole and introduced a bill to close it – but the unfortunately, the bill died. COGCC Rule 602(d) states: “Existing wells are exempt from the provisions of these regulations as they relate to the location of the well.” This Setback Loophole allows any ‘completed’ well to be re-entered and re-drilled regardless of proximity to a structure. And home developers are exempt from any state setbacks from oil and gas operations. This appears to be reckless endangerment and must cease and desist immediately.

August 2012 I gave a formal presentation to the COGCC entitled “The Failures of the State of Colorado to Prevent or Mitigate Adverse Impacts to its Citizens and the Environment.”  LINK

The grand loophole of all exists in the COGCC Rules and Regulations. The entirety of the COGCC’s regulations are nothing more than worthless words due to a ‘Waiver Loophole’ that allows any operator to not abide by any rule or regulation regarding oil and gas development and operations that causes them ‘undue financial burden.’

With a single sentence from the oil and gas industry that states “abiding by this rule will cause XYZ Operator and its operations undue financial burden” the industry then does not have to abide by the rule or pay its expense to do so, and is then waived by a simple signature of COGCC  Director Matt Lepore.  This is the 'Comprehensive Waiver Loophole.'  

I lived in Firestone. It was not only a horrific inspiration to launch a full state-wide resistance against the unregulated fracking industry and the State agencies that gave them right of way over public health safety and environment, but it forced me to move to a place that did not have any real immediate danger. I could not protect myself from the inherent dangers of the fracking industry.

FIRESTONE, CO - each red dot = +|- 52 active wells

Our civil rights to safety have been stripped from us by federal exemptions and enforced by state supremacy that is arbitrary and capricious, which appears to recklessly endanger public health safety and environment.

As I've said for years now, this is not an anti-fracking issue, it's a civil rights issue and every single human has the constitutional right to live without obstruction to safety. Facts don’t lie, the oil and gas industry and the COGCC do. I believe Firestone could have been prevented, and I tried like hell to prevent it.

I don’t want to ever come back here and tell you what needs to be done as far as moral and ethical obligations to the people and environment of Boulder County.  You know what to do to protect the people and we are all counting on you to be as courageous as us. Even if you battle the odds and lose, we will still support you for your courage. The best option is to never allow fossil fuel extraction into Boulder County and we are counting on you to protect us.

We are smarter than a fossil fuel and ‘We Are the Energy of Change.’

Shane Davis

May 1, 2017

Boulder County 

Feel free to email the Boulder County Commissioners your thoughts or simply cut and paste the above information.

commissioners@bouldercounty.org

ADDITIONALLY:  In this anti-fracking/civil-right movement, or any other movement, I do not condone acts of violence, rhetoric or any action that is not peaceful and safe. Any person who speaks of acts of violence or conducts such acts, are not an associate of mine and should be held accountable for their actions under the system of fair and just law.

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