Boulder County Commissioner's Fail to Respond to Questions Regarding Seismic Testing Conducted by the Fracking Industry in Boulder County - Did they participate?

Below is the email with specific questions for the Boulder County Commissioners to answer regarding the seismic operations that appear to have occurred within Boulder County. I submitted my questions via email to the three commissioners on 17 December 2017 some thirty-six day ago. I received an email confirmation that they are in-fact, in receipt of my email and questions, but I have not received a response to date. Crickets…

It is important that all environmental advocates and associated organizations ask the very same questions I have asked and hold the Boulder County Commissioner’s accountable.

Please copy and email the questions below and send to: commissioners@bouldercounty.org

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EMAIL

Boulder County Commissioners, Elise Jones, Cindy Domenico, and Deb Gardner:

I am providing you public information sourced from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s website database: cogcc.state.co.us compiled on my blog page for your review: Were Seismic Operations Conducted by the Oil and Gas Industry in Boulder County? Supporting Documents May Reveal Answers 

Extended link for review: https://fractivist.blogspot.com/2017/12/were-seismic-operations-conducted-by.html

The information compiled appears to clearly illustrate oil and gas seismic operations took place in three separate areas in Boulder County Colorado (BOCO).  Supporting COGCC documents: Form 20 and Form 20A, state and oil and gas industry mapping also illustrates  these activities took place in Boulder County.

I would like you to answer these questions in a timely manner please.

1.       Do you have access to the information I have provided regarding the COGCC documentation authorizing seismic testing operations in Boulder County?

2.       Did you three commissioners, in whole or individually, have any form of knowledge of seismic activity, permitting, Form 20,20A, mapping, operator information in Boulder County during your active role as a commissioner?

3.       Do you have any digital and or hardcopy correspondence from the three of you, to include the former Commissioner Will Toor,  to and from the COGCC , Anadarko Petroleum Inc., Encana Oil and Gas, Extraction Oil and Gas Inc., and/or their associated industry contractors regarding seismic testing operations within the boundaries of Boulder County Colorado during the time-frames before, during and after the testing dates listed in the COGCC documents provided?  Please accept this as a formal request to obtain all documentation regarding these specific issues from January 2012  through December 2018.

4.       Did Boulder County  planning and zoning, legal team et al,  have  any form of knowledge or information, such as but not limited to; email correspondence, mapping, COGCC communication, oil and gas industry documentation regarding the documented seismic activities by the documented oil and gas industry operators and or their contractors?

5.       Did Boulder County update any mapping systems or datasets to include seismic operations and all associated data on the Form 20/20A and any additional data pertinent to the seismic operations? If so, please provide details to include links to mapping systems and or public data sets.

6.       If an oil and gas operator and their seismic contractors were to want to conduct shale seismic testing/operations in Boulder County, what would be the procedure to do so? Please describe the operational flowchart of requirements, documentation, agencies and people involved to obtain permissions to conduct seismic testing operations in Boulder County.

7.       Do you recognize Boulder County as a location for seismic activities on the mapping, Form 20 and Form 20A that I have provided to you?

8.       If Boulder County approved seismic testing operations would you receive the 2D and 3D surface maps created by the oil and gas operators conducting such a test?

9.       Do you have any additional information you can provide to me for the three areas and operators that have already conducted seismic activities in Boulder County? If so, please accept this as a request for that information.

Thank you for your time and assistance with my requests. Please see attached supporting documents and links.

I look forward to hearing from you in a timely manner.

Sincerely,

Shane Davis

Boulder County

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Shane Davis

fractivist.org

Twitter: @fractivist

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Thanks Encana Oil & Gas for the Abandoned Well Under our City Park! Courtesy Matters...

A stunning, but very common case of oil and gas courtesy brought to you by Encana Oil & Gas. In Erie, Colorado, a city park has a plugged and abandoned natural gas well under the surface where children play. Hundreds of homes surround the park where the abandoned well is located with some homes as close as 100 feet away.

The accuracy of this once producing natural gas well is supported with the official Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) 'Application to Permit to Drill' in December 1981 with its precise location. This well was initially owned by Vessels Oil & Gas Company which later sold the lease to PanCanadian Energy (Encana Oil & Gas). API: 05-013-06106

What kind of gesture is it to cover up an abandoned natural gas well and build a playground on the land? How could the city approve of such a probable danger to the public at large, and the children who play on the property?

Click image to enlarge
(Note the dates of the images)

Abandoned oil & gas wells have historic problems and safety concerns as defined by the COGCC.  A recent case dated Jan 13, 2011 in Florence, Colorado an official report was filed by the COGCC to 'Request emergency funding for explosive levels of thermogenic, wet natural gas into and under occupied residential homes from plugged and abandoned wells.' ORDER NO. 1E-10

Below are snippets from the official COGCC Findings document. LINK

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                               3. Soil gas surveys in portions of said Sections 15 and 16 were done prior to and then again subsequent to the plugging of the orphan well.  These soil gas surveys were funded using Appropriation 076 funds for special environmental projects.  The follow-up surveys indicate that soil gas concentrations around and under residences have not decreased subsequent to the plugging of the orphan well.  Five homes are located over or in close proximity to the gas seeps. 

                        4.  COGCC Southern Colorado Field Inspection Supervisor Mike Leonard identified small circular areas of stressed vegetation in the late fall of 2010 in close proximity to oil well locations interpreted from the 1909 USGS records.  He also determined gas was actively seeping from one of the stressed vegetation areas.  He also determined that explosive levels of methane were present in the shallow soils immediately adjacent to one of the mobile homes in the area. 

                        5.  COGCC Staff propose to investigate and determine the sources of gas seeping in this residential area.  The investigation will include detailed investigations of the gas seeps.  Trenching and excavating will be the primary method used to locate orphaned well bores.   Flux surveys of gas seepage volumes will be done simultaneously with trenching and excavating to better locate the sources of gas and the directions in which the gas is migrating.  Other tools that may be used are magnetometers, ground penetrating radar as well as handheld infrared or other gas leak detector devices.  Sampling and characterization of gases from seeps and oil wells in the area will also be used to better understand sources of the seeps.

                        6.  COGCC Staff also propose to aid the local residents to better ensure immediate safety in their homes by purchasing and installing gas monitoring devices as needed.  Other passive mitigation measures may also be used such as venting of combustible soil gases away from homes and residences. 

                        7.   This project designed to ensure human health safety and welfare has estimated costs and expenditures of $67,000.   As described in Finding No. 1, funds for this project are not available from Appropriation 075 which is used for environmental response or from Appropriation 076 which is used for special environmental projects in this fiscal year.  COGCC staff believes that this project needs to be done as soon as practicable due to the potential risk to human safety posed by gas believed to be leaking from orphaned oil wells in the area. 

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Click images to enlarge

There are approximately 79,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Colorado.  The question you need to ask yourself is: 'Do I have any abandoned wells near my home?'

All cement wellbores WILL fail over time. It's the nature of things. 

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