In the second week of September, much of the Colorado Front Range experienced its worst flooding in a hundred years. While the human toll and price tag to repair damaged infrastructure may be staggering, equally important is the effect of oil spills that resulted from the wave of water moving down northern Colorado’s rivers. These oil spills must be dealt with in short order to ensure the quality of drinking water for Coloradans and downstream users.
The Wattenberg Field, which encompasses most of Weld County, is the site of most natural gas drilling and fracking in the state of Colorado. The spills have been within this area, and are affecting the St. Vrain and South Platte Rivers which flow northeastward from Denver toward Nebraska.
This event will affect the region’s petroleum production for months to come, as about 1900 wells were shut down due to flooding, of which only 600 have been brought back online.
Two spills were reported early by Anadarko Petroleum Company: 323 barrels along the St. Vrain River near Platteville and 125 barrels near the South Platte near Milliken. Employees of Anadarko tried to contain the South Platte spill by placing absorbent booms in the water, to little avail. In both cases, the oil was swept by floodwaters and the mixture was a condensate, a mixture of oil and water. Oil was only one of a host of contaminants caught up in the floodwaters, including raw sewage.
It is typical for sewage to get into the water during any type of major flood event. That is not the case with oil. It has the power to do more damage to ecosystems because it is unnatural, while sewage (although disgusting) is natural. While this oil spill pales in comparison to some more nationally known ones, any amount of such a lethal substance can cause major damage.
Three new spills were reported on Sept. 24: 5100 gallons from a Noble Energy facility near Kersey, 2500 gallons from a PDC Energy location near Greeley and an unknown amount from a mineral reserve operation near LaSalle. All told, state officials are now tracking eleven “notable” spills along the South Platte in the Wattenberg Field. The total amount spilled is estimated to be about 34,500 gallons, or 822 barrels.
However, this number may prove an underestimate, as more problems may arise when the floodwaters recede and inspectors can examine sites that are currently unreachable. Oil and gas operations are also likely to fall under more public scrutiny for more regulation as images of flooded wellheads make their way into the press.
The lone specs of good news may be that, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, no major well spills have been reported. It also says there were no fracking fluids released, as there was no hydraulic fracturing going on at the time of the flooding. The important steps moving forward are that strict environmental and drinking water purification standards are put into effect to ensure that a proper cleanup takes place and that Coloradans, Nebraskans and other downstreamers do not get sick.
When other recent (albeit far larger) oil spills occurred in Michigan and Arkansas, cleanup ended up being a very messy and controversial procedure. Since Colorado is dealing with a far lower profile and smaller spill, a unified and timely cleanup can help set a positive precedent for other spills that will inevitably occur. Colorado can clean up the mess and get back online in no time if a comprehensive and fair environmental cleanup plan is implemented.
