"The new plan would allow year-round drilling to continue. Further, it would allow 15 to 30 percent declines in population numbers and habitat for mule deer, pronghorn, sage grouse and sensitive species before efforts begin to stop any loss."

Here again is the earlier story on this massive increase in gas wells to be allowed by the Bush/Kempthorne BLM.

On Saturday (6/28), Lisa Bracken discovered and photographed a new seep in Divide Creek. Go to Journey of the Forsaken updates for her dramatic photos and story.

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SiltBOTs

Get it? SiltBoardOfTrustees. Oh. I am so clever.

And, as the title says, Tuesday night’s meeting was rich in irony. See if you can spot the juicy morsels.

The show was not on the TV since Monday fell on a Tuesday this week – on account of Memorial Day – and Paul the video wizard doesn’t do Tuesdays. Of course that meant I had to go to the meeting if I wanted to see what’s going on – and bring you the highlights. Tod didn’t get home from Grand Junction until 6:45 and the meeting was at 7:00 so we had to rush off and leave behind a messy kitchen with 2 dogs in the house listening to Spa73 on Sirius – it’s their favorite.

Mayor claims conflict of interest on information item ??

Mayor Moore started off the show by saying he would recuse himself from the Habitat for Humanity presentation because he had dinner with those guys.

For god’s sake, how many times do I have to repeat myself?

Silt HRC: Section 1-17. Conflict of Interest. Neither the Mayor nor any Trustee shall vote or participate in discussion or deliberation on any question in which he or she has a substantial personal or financial interest, direct or indirect, including an interest held through a spouse or family member, other than the common public interest, or on any question concerning his or her own conduct.

Town Attorney Duran said since it was just a presentation the Mayor did not have conflict of interest but he could choose to err on the conservative side.

I’d call it erring on the side of error. But what-ever.

Approval of the Minutiae

Oops. I mean Minutes – of the last meeting. You remember. Check your civil rights at the door. The one where the SiltBOTs ganged up on Tod cuz of My Blog.

Anyway, they were in the process of approving those minutes when Bobby Hayes said he wanted included in the minutes that he said Tod should not vote on recusal because of his conflict of interest. Or at least I think that’s what he was getting at. Quite honestly I was there PLUS I watched the video and I don’t remember Bobby saying that. How odd.

So Bobby said he was concerned because by letting Tod vote, he said, the Board violated a Town Ordinance. Which technically they didn’t because Tod did not and does not have a conflict of interest with either the Mayor’s campaign cash reimbursement ordinance or the Autumn Ridge Project. So it’s a moot point. But rather than get into all that, Tod said that if what Bobby said is included in the minutes, then the entire discussion should be included, especially what he (Tod) said. Town Attorney Duran and the Staff said they would review the tape and revise the minutes.

Confused much? The whole discussion was a waste of 20 minutes.

BTW, many, many, MANY people have expressed their concern at what happened to us at the May 12 meeting. We appreciate all the support. I know you all are wondering what’s going on with that little As My Blog Churns soap opera. All I want to say at this time is – go ahead and read between the lines now – I’m right, about EVERYTHING, and everyone else is wrong, wrong, WRONG. So there. Just remember these key phrases: common public interest and freedom of speech. And all shall be revealethed at the proper time. Have faith.

HPV/Autumn Ridge continued to July 14

Yup, you read that right. The SiltBOTs continued the HPV/Autumn Ridge PUD to July 14.

The Mayor did recuse himself from that discussion and left Nicky in charge of the SiltBOTs (the least experienced SiltBOT) because Mayor Pro-Tem Robinson was absent. (BTW, there was a real nice article in The Paper about Meredith’s hubby Al.)

I have no clue whether HPV/Autumn Ridge will be a Public Hearing on 7/14, or not. Staff mentioned something about public notice, but in the last episode you remember, HPV/Autumn Ridge was noticed as a Public Hearing but not listed on the Agenda as such. Evidently whether or not a Public Hearing will be held on the Autumn Ridge PUD is a BIG SECRET.

Here’s what the Silt Municipal Code says:

16.12.070 Procedure--Board review and action--Hearing and notice.

A. The board shall review and act on all PUD applications referred to it by the planning and zoning commission.

B. Each PUD application shall be reviewed and approved, disapproved, or conditionally approved by the board within ninety days of its initial acceptance for filing by the town administrator.

C. To be effective and legal, a PUD application must receive the approval of the board.

D. Before announcing its decision, the board shall schedule and hold a public hearing, public notice of which shall be given in the manner prescribed by Colorado law for the amendment of zoning ordinances, at which hearing the applicant, town officials and all interested parties shall be afforded the reasonable opportunity of being heard. Written notice of the public hearing shall be delivered or mailed, first class postage prepaid, to adjoining landowners at least fifteen days prior to the public hearing. (Ord. 4-80 § 25(4))

But who pays any attention to that nonsense anymore, anyway?

Mark Rinehart approved as new P&Z Commissioner

Two-year resident Mark Rinehart was interviewed and approved by the SiltBOTs to be a Commissioner on P&Z. I think they still need one more Commissioner, so if you’re interested, please contact Sheila McIntyre at the Silt Town Hall.

Habitat for Humanity presentation raises some questions

Before the Habitat for Humanity presentation, The Mayor put Nicky Leigh in charge again and left the room Then after the presentation, Bobby Hayes asked if he could ask a question of the Habitat guys relating to an upcoming project before the Town. Duran said no he couldn’t. But the rest of us were left wondering ...

What “upcoming project” was Bobby talking about?

Does Habitat for Humanity somehow figure into the HPV/Autumn Ridge project?

Is that why Moore recused himself from the presentation?

And if so, how come Bobby knows about it?

Are some of the SiltBOTs having secret meetings?

A-gain?

Stillwater = Deadwater

Or Stillwater goes down the drain. Or Stillwater never flows.

Oo – sorry. I guess that’s not very nice of me. But, as everybody now knows, I am not a nice person. And I’ve never been a big fan of Stillwater. So you see Tod and I don’t ALWAYS agree on EVERYTHING. And it’s kinda ir – er – funny how I posted stuff on My Blog about Stillwater awhile back but Mayor Moore didn’t make any big fuss about My Blog being a conflict of interest for Tod back then. Huh. That’s weird.

Anyway, Dennis Carruth spoke on behalf of Stillwater Development (SWD) and said that because of the declining economy, they were not able to secure financing and the development will not be happening, which wasn’t all that surprising. But The Mayor acted stunned and talked for a long time about how speechless he was over the whole thing.

Then he made a big production out of shaking Carruth's hand.

Once they leased the mineral rights and the gas wells went in I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to build a half million dollar home next to a gas field – but that’s just me.

Tod applauded Stillwater for their input with helping the Town negotiate with Antero some of the strictest rules possible regarding gas well drilling monitoring and impacts within the city limits and stuff.

Mike Sawyer, the attorney for Dixon Farms (partnered with SWD) said he will negotiate with the Staff regarding the August annexation deadline and stuff.

During the discussion, and because I’ve known about Stillwater practically since the day I moved to Silt, I reflected on the history of the project. Through lo, these many years, there have been numerous Public Hearings and Stillwater has always been held to a very high standard when it came to Silt Municipal Code. As a P&Z Commissioner, then Trustee, then Mayor, Dave Moore insisted on it. I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t harping about Stillwater this and Stillwater that. He even sent out emails demanding the other SiltBOTs vote against Stillwater Special District. Plus he showed a Power Point presentation against Stillwater Special District at the Public Hearing and didn’t recuse himself from voting on the issue.

How ironic that same high standard apparently does not apply to his Autumn Ridge project.

Oops – I guess I gave that one away.

BLM Building Project approved

A Public Hearing was held on the Resolution for the Special Use Permit for the BLM building project at the corner of River Frontage Road and Cty Road 311. I left after the hearing – I still had a mess to clean up in my kitchen – but both the Special Use Permit and site plan were approved.

While cleaning up my kitchen at 10 pm, I thought about that whole BLM project and how there were two resolutions presented, plus the project meets Silt Municipal Codes, they weren’t asking for any variance or zoning change, and yet there was a Public Hearing.

Caught up in the web of double standards and swirling in irony, I nearly passed out.

So I went to bed cuz I knew I had to get up at o-dark-thirty to get Tod off to Grand Junction for a 6:30 am flight. Ugh.

Stay tuned for the next episode of SiltBOTs – now with more double standards AND rich in irony! – on June 9.

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Oh it’s not just our gas the Empire wants. And yes, it is OUR gas. Gas is a natural resource, that’s why it’s taxed when it’s extracted. Now they want our water, too. In the let-them-drink-gas department, check this out:

Shell makes run on water
Oil-shale plans
By Steve Lipsher

In its quest to melt oil out of western Colorado's shale, Royal Dutch Shell has been buying up land and water rights in anticipation of what is likely to be a thirsty new industry.

Some officials, however, worry that the demands of the oil-shale industry could drain every drop of the region's remaining water.

"On the upper end, we're looking at potentially several hundred thousand acre-feet of water — more than people think is commonly available to develop in the Colorado River," said Dan Birch, deputy general manager for the Colorado River Water Conservation District.

Shell and other energy companies have amassed tens of thousands of acres of cropland, ranches and open space — including a state wildlife area — to gain water that would be needed to power the oil-shale process.

"We've been acquiring land and associated water rights for a long time," Shell spokesman Tracy Boyd said. "We're just situating ourselves so that when the time comes, we'll have the resources we need" ...

And if that’s not enough to make you sick, here’s the latest on the Project Rulison nuclear blast site:

Drilling approved nearer to Rulison blast site
Permits conditionally approved about a mile from center of 1969 nuclear explosion
By Phillip Yates

BATTLEMENT MESA, Colorado — The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has conditionally approved 11 permits to drill wells a little more than one mile away from Project Rulison blast site …

For background info on the Project Rulison blast site see Pandora’s Radioactive Box.

So who’s monitoring the radionuclide levels in air, soil, surface and groundwater? Why, the gas companies of course.

Rulison Samping and Analysis Plan for Operational and Environmental Radiological Monitoring Within a Three-Mile Radius of Project Rulison
Prepared for:
Noble Energy, Inc.
Williams Production RMT
EnCana Oil & Gas (USA), Inc.

The most significant paragraph in this document is this one:

The reports will be submitted to the COGCC within approximately 60 days after the receipt of laboratory analytical results. It is anticipated that the quarterly reports will be submitted on or before the nearest business day to June 1 (First Quarter), October 1 (Second Quarter), December 1 (Third Quarter), or February 1 (Fourth Quarter). The annual report will be submitted on or before December 15. Once received and reviewed, the COGCC intends to post the submitted reports on its website for public access.

I guess that means we have to wait until the COGCC publishes the reports.

For what it’s worth, the Mayo Clinic covers Radiation sickness: Signs and symptoms in depth. They recommend potassium iodide. The FDA/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research offers this handy FAQ about potassium iodide.

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Energy industry: Maybe we'll leave
By Bobby Magill

Colorado’s oil and gas industry is hopping mad about new energy development regulations being written by the state, so much so that industry members say it could force them to look outside Colorado for business …

Oh. Hey. Energy companies. Listen up. Before you leave, would you mind cleaning up this mess you made?

And this --

This too --

Oops! Don’t forget this one!

At the current level of production the energy companies will be here well past 2020.

Gee. If they start packing up now, maybe they’ll be out of here by 2030. We can always hope ...

Wow. What a joke. These energy people think we're so stupid.

So anyway, as promised, I bring you shiny new PDFs from last week’s (1/18) local Mayors meeting with Governor Ritter.

Governor Ritter’s press release: State, Feds to Continue Roan Plateau Discussions

Colorado Dept of Natural Resources letter to BLM -- Re: Comments on Proposed ACEC Provisions in the Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan Amendment

Mountain Mayors letter to Americans for American Energy

It's like The Rancher said in his comment about the Daily Sentinel article: "A lot of us who have Federal Land Grazing Permits have wondered why the state and federal governments have not subjected the oil&gas industry to the same environmental standards as the ranching community."

Or any other individual, community, business, organization, or industry ...

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Push to pause Roan drilling dead for year
By Mike Saccone

A one-year ban on developing the top of the Roan Plateau is dead, at least for the remainder of 2007, according to the office of Congressman John Salazar, D-Colo ...

Now it’s up to our state and local leaders to save the Roan.

Garfield County Officials urge Governor Ritter: Colorado can afford to save Roan Plateau
Protecting Roan Plateau protects economic strength and area quality-of-life

SILT, Colo.—Elected leaders from Garfield County today urged Governor Ritter to support strong protections for the Roan Plateau as he finishes a review of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plans to allow drilling on the area of popular public lands, located about 40 miles east of Grand Junction. 

The Colorado governor is currently completing his review of the federal government’s plans to open all the Roan Plateau’s public lands to oil and gas leasing and drilling.  The elected officials, representing four municipalities in Garfield County, emphasized the value that open, undeveloped public lands provide to their communities.

“Colorado can afford to protect the Roan Plateau,” said Michael Hassig, mayor of the Town of Carbondale.  “What we cannot afford is to let one use compromise our traditional economic inputs and the health of our communities.  Protecting the Roan won’t impact all of the drilling that is already taking place in Garfield County.  But drilling there will severely threaten the hunting and fishing, wildlife habitat, and other uses that are already occurring.”

Garfield County’s communities currently rely on a mixture of amenities and industries to promote economic activity, with public lands playing a large role in that mix.  Recent analysis of economic data by Headwaters Economics shows that the prosperity of Colorado’s West Slope springs from its diverse economy. The research suggests that “if energy activity displaces or repels other types of economic activity, it could jeopardize the future health of these communities, especially when the boom cools off.”

Among the report’s conclusions was that it is important to ensure that energy development occurs at a pace and scale that considers other community needs. 

“Taking a measured approached would be a better course for Colorado than rushing headlong into another energy boom,” said Bruce Christensen, mayor of Glenwood Springs.  “Garfield County has been down that road before; slow and steady would allow governments to plan for this activity, and for our communities to grow at a stable pace.  What’s happening at Roan Plateau, across much of the West, is a land grab.  Our state would be best served by protecting the Roan Plateau and similar places, and moving into a new clean energy future, than in drilling the Roan.”

If current projections hold, 2007 will become the fifth consecutive year in which a new record for drilling permits will be set, with Garfield County at the epicenter of the activity.  Tens of thousands of additional wells are planned across the Piceance Basin— which includes the Roan Plateau.   A measured approach to developing Colorado’s resources, rather than the frenzy of activity currently occurring, would better serve the long-term stability and viability of the state and local economy, the Headwaters analysis  found. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which administers many of the public lands in the Piceance including the Roan Plateau, about 95% of its lands in the basin have already been leased by the oil and gas industry.  Many of the private lands in the area are likewise owned or under the control of these companies.

“It is not in Colorado’s best interest to rush into leasing the Roan Plateau,” said Tod Tibbetts, mayor pro-tem of the Town of Silt. “The oil and gas companies should not be allowed to determine local land use, which is exactly what the BLM’s leasing program encourages.  Now is the time for Colorado’s congressional leaders and Governor Ritter to ensure that the Roan’s remaining public lands are left intact, as they are today, and like the public and our communities have asked for all along.”

Williams Companies—the largest gas driller in Garfield County, which includes the Roan Plateau—has a ten-year inventory of drilling sites already, according to company sources.  This situation holds across the state: 70% of the public lands in Colorado that have been leased for oil and gas have yet to be put into production. 

With natural gas reserves in United States area at a 30-year high, the rush to develop the publicly-owned natural gas in Colorado drives down revenue coming back to the state, which is sold at bargain basement rates. Furthermore, advances in directional drilling technology allow industry to extract most of the Roan’s resources without developing any more of the area’s public lands.  For example, the BLM management plan approved only this year assumes a maximum horizontal reach of 2,500 feet for directional wells. However, EnCana, one of the largest operators in the county, has recently demonstrated a reach of almost twice that. 

To encourage development of such technology and to ensure that the Roan’s other values and uses are protected, Colorado congressmen John Salazar and Mark Udall succeeded in including provisions in a House energy bill that would allow extraction of the Roan’s gas from outside the unleased public lands in the area.
 
“Impacts here from the drilling industry are already enormous; traffic impacts, air and dust impacts, road and bridge impacts, social services impacts, and possibly water impacts,” said Councilman Greg Russi, from the Town of New Castle.  “It makes no sense to drill the top of the Roan using old technology when we could drill later, do better at getting that gas to market as new pipelines come online, and use newer, more environmentally sound technology. We hope Governor Ritter uses his review to urge that the BLM develop such restraint, and to support Colorado’s congressional delegation and senators in protecting what we cherish about Roan Plateau.”
 
Governor Ritter won a 120-day review of the BLM’s plan, with the help of Senator Salazar, and is expected to issue his findings sometime in December.  Final congressional action on the energy bill is still pending, although all oil and gas provisions have been stripped from the bill, making Governor Ritter’s position all the more critical to winning long term protection for the Roan.   

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We recently reconnected over the article in the GJ Daily Sentinel, New wells near gas seep concern nearby residents, where I discovered she has a new blog, Journey of the Forsaken. If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, you are really missing something. I cried like a baby over her wounded buck story. Hunting season can be so awfully cruel.

So for those of you who have been following along thus far, here is my much anticipated interview with Lisa Bracken.

Me: Okay, let's get to the big question first – the same one I get asked all the time. Why do you stay? I have my own reasons. What are yours?

Lisa: I am deeply connected to this land – as is my family. This land has given us so much over the last twenty years. The flora and fauna that populate this place make it extraordinary. They give it life, character and a dynamic force which invites not only our observation but participation. They teach me, and their life-force nourishes my physical form and spirit. They have built me – sustained me. I owe this land more than just a debt of gratitude. It continually provides for my very spiritual substance.

When the life force of this mountain is threatened by those who neither see nor comprehend the impacts of their actions, how can I possibly walk away from it? How can I allow it to fend for itself when its voice is alien to those who transgress upon it? I consider it my honor and obligation to defend this land, the air above it, the waters that flow through it and all those who call it their home. This is not a fight I went looking for. It is a fight that came to me, and I’m not one to run.

Some of our neighbors have fled the area and have suggested we do the same. But this issue isn’t brought on by local policy altered by the good will of a handful of people bound together in common defense of either the land or an ideal. This problem is caused by federal policy. State and local policy must bow to its greater authority. The belief that there is somewhere to run is a modern myth. As a resurgence of industrialization flourishes, the threat upon our wild lands and private lands is tremendous. From corporate farms to energy development, the heavy footprint of mismanaged resource use falls upon us all.

Like the old song says, I believe we each should live in the place where we stand. I won’t forsake this place for the false allure of another which carries its own latent ill fate – regardless of how removed it may seem today. To me, all land is sacred and worth defending.

Me: I share that same feeling of spiritual attachment to this land. And I’ve also become aware in my own travels how bad government policy is impacting public and private lands and peoples’ lives no matter where I go.

In the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel article, Pepi Langegger said the West Divide Creek seep is still bubbling. I've heard this before and it scares the crap out of me. Langegger added: "I guess I wonder why they're starting something new, and they still haven't taken care of this existing problem. I guess time will tell." But that's all that was said. How do you feel about this?

Lisa: The seep is still actively discharging into Divide Creek. The thing is, the state has permitted the drilling of 40 new wells without, in my opinion, sufficient study of the area. The very fact that restrictions have been imposed as a condition of continued drilling attests that this geology is something of an anomaly. And certainly, events that occurred right up to the seep itself may have contributed to a geologic shift – including the Arbaney “kick” that occurred on March 09, 2004, and which shook the ground up to approximately a mile away.

Now we are seeing activity which mirrors that which we observed during the height of the Divide Creek seep in 2004. But, again, it is being down-played. To their credit, and despite their apparent assumptions that the new observations point to biogenic activity and nothing more, on 11-02-07 EnCana sampled the area of the creek where the new observations are occurring. I worry that if insufficient study is put behind what I consider an early indication that something is amiss, we may see yet another situation which devastates the environment. And fracing might make it even worse.

I and my family are very apprehensive about the intensity of the proposed activity – that is 40 new wells within a fifteen month period. It seems like both EnCana, by pushing so hard, and the COGCC, by allowing it, are simply disregarding lessons which have already been learned the hard way. But the resource is desired, and they’re going after this resource (and the money it represents) like a junkyard dog on a pork chop. That industry attitude forces everything into a difficult position.

Me: Well that doesn’t put my mind at ease, but at least I know you’re keeping an eagle eye on the situation and I’ll keep watching your blog for updates.

You state in your essay at Journey of the Forsaken that you will be objective and look at all sides as Encana embarks on this – what I consider appalling – drilling plan for 40 new wells in an area determined to be geologically sensitive. But you've been impacted by gas well drilling for several years already. I have a feeling you have a pretty good idea what you're facing down here. One thing you haven't mentioned in your blog entries is the truck traffic, which everyone complains about. What it's like on any given day?

Lisa: I can only speak to what occurred during the development of three wells back in ’04. Then, the truck traffic was pretty rough to deal with. I think it poses serious dangers to other vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as well as contributes significantly to dust problems – to which there is NO environmentally sound answer. They also carve new roads over trackless land and fracture contiguous habitat. And they are quite noisy. Their weight further degrades farm-to-market roads and private lanes that were never designed to handle that kind of impact. They also tend to drag in noxious weed seed that further jeopardizes the landscape by contributing to the degradation of native species and forage.

The truck traffic really does create more than just a nuisance. New pipelines for the transport of water are apparently intended to curtail some of this kind of impact. Other ways of coping with it include the development of less pads and the use of improved, shared road-ways. William’s Production is using Flex rigs which reduce truck traffic impacts by clustering numerous wells on one pad. While that is a boon in traffic reduction, it can unfortunately create VOC hotspots. What the development of 40 wells within a mile of our home will lead to is anyone’s guess.

Me: You and your family have lived in the West Divide Creek area for more than 20 years. I imagine you have observed the impacts of the increasing gas well development on the wildlife over time. Can you share some of those observations? Do you see the impacts on wildlife as any kind of warning to our human population?

Lisa: The impacts to wildlife from this industry are enormous – but as humans who share that habitat we are imperiled also. While people tend not to think of themselves as wildlife, we are in fact, a part of the landscape. We are in every sense as invested in the land we occupy as are the deer, elk, eagle and others.  In rural areas of Garfield County we literally share the same air, water and soil. We live, work and recreate upon the land like any other creature. The continued sacrifice of our lands for short-term gain will have far reaching effects. Our Earth can only sustain so much disruption to a very intricate and evolved ecological structure. Given the presence of plastics on every shore, the mass die-off of vast bird, butterfly, frog and now polar bear populations, the hole in the ozone – I’m afraid we have brought ourselves and every other living thing on this planet to the brink of extinction, and the brink is crumbling.

This is where we stand - largely because of a consumer’s culture. A selfish culture defined by ‘me’ and ‘now’ and ‘more’. To this we add petty bickering, national posturing, wonton corporate greed, and religious and racial intolerance. Give me a break. We are a vast zit on the ass of Mother Nature. And nature has a way of cleansing herself. It is just such a shame, such a genuine tragedy to not recognize the value of all we destroy every day.

Imagine a view of our selves from space. Now, run time-lapse footage from the dawn of man to today, you’d see the same kind of behavior a virus exhibits toward a host under a microscope. Consuming. That’s it. Nothing else to see here, folks. And for all our technologically evolved ‘brilliance’, we continue to multiply and consume with no friggin’ idea where we’ll go next. We just stand around with our paper coffee cups in one hand and a cell phone in another looking like the dumb asses we are – while the whole world implodes under our feet. We are so beyond zit. We are verified virus. 

But … there is hope. In my heart I know that there are many people who are aware of their impacts and strive every day – even more than me, to lessen those impacts and do what they can to preserve this treasured planet. It is a miracle planet, so incredibly stunning in every way. And these are the minority who can collectively reshape today and tomorrow, giving us a shot at survival. So many people believe that as long as they can pump gas into the tank Monday morning, and pick up a steak at the store on the way home from work everything in hunky dory. Not so. But, by the time we realize the magnitude of our own threat to our own survival, it may be too late.

Alternative fuels is job one. Particularly solar. More solar power falls to Earth every day than the total amount of energy the planet’s 5.9 billion inhabitants would consume in 27 years. Fossil fuels and the greed they inspire and the devastation they cause in their production and combustion are a big part of what is destroying this planet – and of course all your synthetic chemicals are the spawn of such benevolence.

It is ok to consume as long as you give back and maintain balance, honoring Earth’s fragile harmony. The oil and gas industry tends to pillage, they don’t so much tend lovingly the garden of their glorious gain. And it’s all tied into profit. But profit can occur without pillage. We need to foster true stewardship and stop behaving like a virus.

Me: I totally agree. The impacts of energy development that we live with here are part of a larger, global issue of consumption – and bad government policy – and we should be looking closely at the condition of our wildlife all over the world to understand what it means for the human race.

Which brings me to, I have mixed feelings about the changes in the makeup of the COGCC and Governor Ritter's emphasis on and attention to air and water quality related to gas well drilling. I worry that it's too little, too late. What do you think?

Lisa: I think it’s a damn good start that should have happened years ago. The delayed restructuring of this commission illustrates the unconscionable and detrimental effect politics can play in matters of pubic health and safety. I herald Governor Ritter’s efforts, and I say: “kahoniism over cronyism!”

This industry brings out the best and worst in people. I’ve seen the worst of the snivelers roll over, jump ship and bite one another on the back. And I’ve seen a few others (very few others) stand up regardless of personal cost. It takes fortitude to stand up against an industry so accustomed to bullying their way around – and with a bottomless pit of subsidized financial recourses to back it up. Like any great advance it begins by someone putting one foot forward. History tells us that such industrial empires last only so long.  Just one foot forward and, if conditions are finally right – which they finally are. Others will follow. Governor Ritter and Harris Sherman are both champions, and I hope for them the strength to withstand the tempest gale to come.

Me: Thank you so much, Lisa! I am uplifted by your intellect and courage. I share your strong convictions toward protecting this land and all of its sacred treasures. Your blog is a diamond in the wilderness.

I hope this will be the first of many conversations we share with our readers. And hey, let’s do lunch – or least coffee one of these days. Really! I mean it.

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You can revisit those posts at: As Silt Seeps and Still Seeping After All These Years.

So as we left it back then in April 2006, the COGCC lifted the moratorium to clear the way for Encana to drill 18 new wells in the West Divide Creek area which contains a natural geologic fault.

Now the plan is for 40 new wells. Whether that’s 40 more on top of the 18 last year I’m not sure. Does it matter? That’s a hell of lot of new wells in the West Divide Creek region.

Sunday’s Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ran this article:

New wells near gas seep concern nearby residents
By Mike McKibbin

SILT — Three years after a natural gas seep bubbled to the surface of West Divide Creek — almost in Lisa Bracken’s backyard — drill rigs are back in the area to poke more holes in the ground.

Not only does Bracken worry about another seep near her family’s home, more than six miles south of Silt, she thinks a plan recently started to drill 40 gas wells in the area within a year and a half is too fast.

“We were told before the seep that they could safely drill wells,” Bracken said. “They failed us before, so there’s a lot of things I have questions about. I just think the intensity of this and the number of wells in that time frame, here in a rural residential area, just isn’t the safest thing to do.”

EnCana Oil and Gas, the company responsible for the March 2004 seep, is drilling the 40 wells. EnCana spokesman Doug Hock said the company believes new drilling rigs and special drilling regulations imposed after the seep will ensure the new wells can be safely drilled.

After the seep, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission imposed a drilling moratorium within a two-mile radius. Gas in the seep contained benzene, a carcinogen, and other compounds. The seep was linked to an improperly cemented well. The commission fined EnCana $371,000, the highest fine it ever levied. The drilling moratorium was lifted last year, and all wells in the area now must include extra cement around well casings.

The 40 wells, all within the moratorium area, are the closest to the seep since it occurred, Bracken said, and they include the nearby Schwartz well pad, where the problem well was drilled.

Hock said the wells will be drilled off several existing well pads and two new pads.

“This area has always been one we planned to drill,” he said.

Pepi Langegger owns the property where the seep still bubbles, and he said he was “less frantic” about EnCana’s plans because of the special regulations and newer rigs.

“I guess I wonder why they’re starting something new, and they still haven’t taken care of this existing problem,” Langegger said. “I guess time will tell.”

Hock said 40 wells in 18 months is “not a particularly fast pace, especially with the new rigs we use now. They can drill a lot more wells at one time.”

The commission limits all operators within the two-mile area to two drilling rigs apiece, to control the drilling rate and allow closer monitoring of well records that should indicate problems.

Bracken is posting weekly updates on the new wells on her blog [Journey of the Forsaken]. The name of the site was chosen to reflect how she and her neighbors have felt since the 2004 seep, she said.

“The state OKs permit after permit, but we’ve had explosions and spills, and we have to deal with the affects of all this activity,” Bracken said. “It’s like we’ve been forsaken in this all-out drive to drill.”

I know Lisa Bracken so I rushed right over to Journey of the Forsaken – and you should, too. I could hardly tear myself away and have been frantically reading to catch up this week.

This is breakthrough stuff. Lisa is documenting the impacts of this new, atrocious pace of gas well development in a blog format. She combines journalism, activism, and science into a fascinating, unfolding drama that reveals what life is really like living next to a gas well. She’s in touch with Encana, DOW, and the COGCC, asking questions and insisting on answers. And she posts photos, too!

I applaud Lisa’s commitment to journalistic integrity. I am not so generous with the gas companies. However I completely agree with her that gas well development is here to stay, it’s good for the economy, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our environment, our health, our air and water quality. What she does show us is just how hard it is to PROVE impact even when it seems to rest of us like it’s so blatantly obvious it’s staring us in the face.

I for one am hugely grateful that Lisa is opening up West Divide Creek for the whole world to see.

She truly is our Silt canary.

Coming soon! An interview with Lisa Bracken from Journey of the Forsaken.

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Energy industry truck spills fluids south of Silt
Company says no danger to environment, hires contractor for cleanup
By Pete Fowler

SILT - A truck going to a natural gas well pad crashed and spilled fluids south of Silt Monday morning that caught the attention of a Colorado State Patrol hazardous materials unit.

The accident was reported at 7:10 a.m. A Schlumberger Limited precision continuous mixer truck had spilled its contents down an embankment, according to Garfield County Sheriff's Office community relations deputy Tanny McGinnis. The crash occurred near County Road 326.

"There was no threat to homes or evacuations in the area of the accident and Schlumberger Oil has made arrangements for a private contractor to clean up the spill site," McGinnis said in an e-mail.

The driver was cited with careless driving, McGinnis said, but the name wasn't included and she didn't return a phone message after sending the e-mail.

Stephen Harris, a spokesperson for Schlumberger, said the spill consists of fluids commonly used to "frac" or crack open the formation of an oil well. It's done by sending them down the hole with large amounts of pressure, he said. Harris said he didn't know the scientific names of the fluids.

Oh really? Well let’s help the guy out. Here’s a look at the toxic soup ingredients:

Putting the Heat on Gas
By Valerie J. Brown

… Both air and water quality are affected by extraction of natural gas rich in methane. Sometimes methane must be separated from fluids and other gases in processes that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Chemicals containing VOCs may also be used when a well is drilled and during a process known as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), in which chemical mixtures are injected into wells to break up rock formations and release gases. VOCs are also emitted by compressors and other equipment. “Produced water,” groundwater drawn from wells that can contain various salts as well as drilling and fracking chemicals, is usually reinjected underground or placed in evaporation ponds on the surface, from which chemicals including VOCs can be released to the atmosphere. Methane and fracking chemicals can also migrate into shallow aquifers used for drinking water wells.

Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylenes are naturally present in many hydrocarbon deposits, and may be present in drilling and fracking chemicals. These VOCs can cause symptoms such as headache, loss of coordination, and damage to the liver and kidneys; benzene is a carcinogen as well. VOCs help create ground-level ozone, which can contribute to severe respiratory and immune system problems …

Ok, now back to the spill article:

The fluids are not dangerous to the environment, were spilled at least 100 yards from two nearby homes and there were no water sources nearby, Harris said.

Well gosh, if that’s the case then why did Schlumberger hire a private contractor to clean up the spill?

"They're not what they call reactive," he said. "They don't react with one another in a chemical process. They're also what the industry calls not regulatory reportable because of the nature of the fluids."

Oh please. It’s time to inject some truth into this load of crap

Not “reactive” just means there was no immediate toxic chemical cloud resulting from the spill. That doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous to the environment. It just means no one had to be evacuated.

“Not regulatory reportable” simply refers to the 2005 oil and gas industry exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act, allowing the injection of toxic fluids directly into groundwater without oversight by the EPA. Just because the EPA doesn’t regulate fracking chemicals doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous to the environment.

There’s plenty of evidence out there to the contrary:

Fracking Biocides Pose Danger to West

(Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2007) With little oversight from the federal government, a myriad of chemicals are being injected underground in the name of energy exploration in the West. Among these chemicals, biocides are considered to pose a serious threat to environmental and public health.

Hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking” or “frac’ing” for short, is the process approximately 90 percent of oil and gas wells in the U.S. undergo to facilitate extraction. Biocides are used to kill microorganisms that can interfere with other fluids and methods used to stimulate extraction, and to prevent corrosion to pipes ...

… Since there is no disclosure of the chemicals or amounts used in the process, it is not possible to determine how much of a threat these chemicals pose. However, from the analysis that has been conducted by the Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) on the limited information that has been obtained, it has been determined that the products labeled as biocides are among the most lethal.

One example is an ingredient used in some biocide formulations: 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, diethylene glycol monomethyl ether. It is a suspected carcinogen, known to cause fetal deformities and organ malformations, and reduced male fertility ...

If you’re interested in learning more about the risks to our health and environment from oil and gas drilling go to Earthworks for the latest news and research. This is a good place to start:

Contamination Incidents Related to oil and gas development

There is no question that oil and gas chemicals and wastes are being released into Colorado air, waters and soil.  The media have documented a number of incidents where releases have occurred.  As well, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) keeps track of spills of oil and gas exploration and production wastes that are more than 5 barrels in volume.  By combing through the COGCC files, OGAP has uncovered and summarized information on chemicals used and released by the oil and gas industry in Colorado.

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While you’re at the Save the Roan Plateau website be sure to check out Gas Wells Cram Garfield County.

Here’s how Tod Tibbetts responded to the article:

“The hard work of citizens and politicians is beginning to show some results. Finally the regulatory agencies are paying more attention to the public’s concerns. The appropriate agencies, such as the EPA, are starting to address public health and environmental issues.

“On the local level we have had a gas well drilling ordinance in place in Silt for several years, and the Board recently revised it to address the ongoing impacts and strengthen it accordingly. Silt’s gas severance tax proceeds funded a road impact study which will soon be released and the Board will be better able to address those impacts accordingly. The people have spoken and slowly but surely they are being heard.”

Recall Update

Currently we are waiting out the protest period, which ends September 28. I will continue next week with lots more recall news and information, or before if there’s any breaking news.

The letter to the editor by Duke Cox in The Paper today, was a particularly vicious pack of lies. If we really wanted to take over the town, it doesn’t make sense that we would work so hard to put the recall in hands of the voters. The decision will be up to the voters, not the recall committee – or by secret board meetings.

Remember! This is your source for up-to-date and accurate news and information about the recall.   

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The Grand Valley Citizens Alliance invited Tod to be part of their new video ads from Save the Roan Plateau.org.

Check this out –

You can view both ads at Save the Roan Plateau.org.

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Let’s look back on the past 16 months, and examine Mayor Moore’s record and how Silt has been affected.

When Mayor Moore took employee matters into his own hands earlier this year and refused to follow the rules and procedures, he drastically affected the normal business activity of the town. As a result, the Town Administrator and Community Development Director resigned.

Consequently the town staff has been in upheaval for months. Silt does not currently have a Town Administrator or Community Development Director. Filling these key positions is costing the town tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours lost on other important issues such as ...

The roundabout was scheduled to begin construction this summer. Mayor Moore’s meddling in employee issues has delayed moving toward finalization of the project. Now the town is struggling to get the project done this year. The risk is that Silt may lose grant monies essential for funding the roundabout.

The new gravel company going in east of Silt anticipated being part of the town’s business community but is now part of Garfield County instead, because of Mayor Moore’s vehement opposition. Therefore Silt receives no sales tax revenue. Mayor Moore even voted against the royalty agreement that the Staff put together once it became clear it would be a county gravel pit. The Board passed the royalty agreement without his vote.

Last Spring, Mayor Moore bragged about calling in C-DOT to set up truck check points to catch overweight vehicles. In fact, most of the infractions cited were for minor equipment issues against local businesses’ vehicles.

When the Board revisited the Special Use Permit Ordinance for gas well drilling within town limits to increase some of the fees, Mayor Moore voted against it.

Mayor Moore voted against an Ordinance to put in place a fee structure for utilities that use the public right-of-way.

Even though Silt voters soundly rejected the hotel tax as discriminatory against the one hotel in town, Mayor Moore continues to lobby in favor of taxing the Silt Motel.

Mayor Moore likes to take credit for the Mayors Collaborative, a local mayors group that meets regularly to discuss energy and water issues. The group started meeting in February 2006, two months before Mayor Moore was even elected. The Mayors Collaborative exists because of the efforts and organization of Healthy Mountain Communities Executive Director Colin Laird.

Mayor Moore prides himself on taking a stand against big business. But it is NOT in the best interests of the town to piss off big business to the point that it hinders negotiations over issues that would be beneficial for the town. Instead Silt has gained the reputation in the valley for being unfriendly to business. 

Dave Moore the citizen is a developer. He owns Center Townhomes, and he has plans for another new development. It’s easy to see why he might be inclined to oppose other developments. But that isn’t in the best interest of the town either. It’s in the best interest of Dave Moore the citizen.

Mayor Moore has repeatedly violated state statutes and town ordinances. He has claimed they were “procedural mistakes”. However he has refused to accept responsibility for his actions, even after the violations were brought to his attention, and in spite of the consequences. We have no reason to believe that his misconduct will stop. In fact it continues to this day.

Mayor Moore should be recalled.

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BLM: Drill the Roan
By Gary Harmon

Natural gas drilling can move forward on the Roan Plateau under decisions released Friday by the Bureau of Land Management — to the disappointment of environmental organizations and delight of energy companies.

The decisions also sparked anger in the office of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, who had sought 120 days to study the plateau drilling proposal drafted by the previous administration of Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican.

“There was no crisis, no imminent reason why the BLM could not have granted a 120-day review period for a new administration,” said Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer. “We are now reviewing all possible options.”

The decision flew in the face of requests by Colorado congressional Democrats that the agency withhold action for more comment.

“I’m extremely disappointed and urge BLM to refrain from taking any further action to issue leases on the Roan,” said U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who said he would consult with U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a Democrat running for the Senate, “to determine what options are available to us to delay the leasing so that our constituents can be heard.”

Oh, for God’s sake the constituents have been heard until we’re blue in the face. Two years ago the BLM received nearly 75,000 comments about gas well drilling on the Roan Plateau, the majority of which were against it. But BLM Project Manager John Spehar said back then: "We don’t count votes. We don’t really give any more weight to an issue raised 50,000 times than we do to an issue raised once. People can’t expect to just send in a postcard without reading the (environmental impact statement) and somehow influence the decision."

So there you have it, what the people say doesn’t matter. They can’t even EXPECT that what they think or do should matter. Stupid peeps. Public lands aren’t really PUBLIC lands at all. They’re US GOVERNMENT lands which are currently being sold to the highest bidders – the energy companies. And they would like us all to just shut up and sit down.

According to a Post Independent article on the BLM decision on the Roan:

BLM has projected 1,570 new wells could be drilled in the planning area, including 210 wells on top of the plateau, also known as the Naval Oil Shale Reserve, over 20 years.

So then is this next article what we have to look forward to over the next 20 years?

Is gas drilling affecting health?
Residents near energy development have numerous complaints
By Donna Gray

Dee Hoffmeister is feeling better these days. She's been going to an acupuncturist for a couple of months and is taking Chinese herbs.

"It's helping," she said.

But she also knows her health problems, which she attributes to the natural gas drilling near her home south of Silt, are not acknowledged by traditional doctors.

"I was in the hospital and I had all the tests. I told them in the beginning they wouldn't show anything unless I glow in the dark," she said.

That's been the frustration for Hoffmeister and others living in the gas patch in western Garfield County where hundreds of wells are drilled every year. Residents have complained of headaches, skin irritation, nausea and dizziness from breathing noxious fumes that emanate from the rigs. But their complaints that the fumes are causing illness don't wash with regulators, they say, because there's no medical data to back it up ...

... Beth Dardynski, who also lives in Dry Hollow, has suffered similar ailments. "We're in the bull's-eye of tons of development," she said. "I'm really sensitive."

When she smells the fumes she gets sick to her stomach and suffers from headaches, she said. It's been going on for some time.

"We bought our property in 1999, and this (drilling) has been going on for at least five years."

Nor does she see any slowdown of development. "We have wells 360 degrees (around their home)."

"I don't know that we can do anything about health effects" caused by oil and gas operations, "except advise them to see a physician," said Garfield County environmental health manager Jim Rada. "One of the problems is when people call they generally don't have any medical information to support their claims."

Oh, by the way the answer is:
Yes, gas drilling IS affecting health.

And so far there’s not a damn thing we can do about that.

My friend, Oni Butterfly had to sell her home in the Divide Creek area because the gas drilling activity around her homestead was making her sick with respiratory ailments. She moved up to Carbondale last fall and told me that within 2 weeks her symptoms started to clear up. “I knew I was sick but I didn’t realize how sick until I got out of there,” Oni told me last month.

I’m glad Oni’s feeling better. But what about the rest of us who can’t just sell out and leave?

This spring the Rifle Citizen Telegram ran an article about a gas well worker who is sick. For the life of me, I can’t find the article. It was probably disappeared down the old memory hole. But it doesn’t matter. They can’t keep it quiet forever. The energy company spokesholes used to say, “Well if gas well drilling causes so many health issues, why aren’t the workers sick?”

THEY ARE, Spanky, they ARE sick.

Which brings up another question. So many questions – never enough good answers. So how do they plan to drill the gas, finish the pipeline, and run the shiny new refinery they’re building north of Parachute if all the workers keep getting sick?

Of course the REAL CORKER in all of this is most people think the natural gas coming out of western Colorado is going directly to heat homes across America. WRONG! Most of Western Colorado’s natural gas is heating homes across Japan. The only ones profiting from this boom are the energy companies. And they don’t hesitate to spend those profits on keeping us from even measuring the impacts, let alone doing anything about them.

We gave up on the whole public lands argument a couple years ago. Now we’re asking whose HEALTH is it anyway?

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Ritter signs four bills into law in Glenwood
Three focus on oil and gas reform
By Donna Gray

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Gov. Bill Ritter paid a visit to Glenwood Springs Tuesday to sign four bills, three of which provide more oversight for the oil and gas industry in western Colorado.

So let’s cut to the chase. Here are the bills and what they cover:

HB 1252 - requires oil and gas companies to use best practices, including underground directional drilling, to minimize surface impacts, and makes them liable for damages

HB 1341 – expands the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 7 to 9 members (which currently comprises primarily representatives of the energy industry), and ensures that the oil and gas industry is no longer guaranteed a majority of seats on the commission

HB 1298 - expands the policy of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to focus on public health and the environment, and makes protecting wildlife part of the COGCC’s mission and gives Colorado's Division of Wildlife more say in how to insulate wildlife from the impacts of the fast-growing industry

HB 1180 - requires the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to establish rules by Jan. 1, 2008, to ensure the accuracy of gas volume measurement at the wellhead, and will also open county assessor records on oil and gas property taxes to the state Department of Revenue

HB 1139 - doubles the percentage of severance tax revenues that come directly to the communities affected by energy extraction. Currently, communities get 15% of the revenues and the state Department of Local Affairs gets 85%, which it awards to impacted communities in the form of energy impact grants.

This represents a huge legislative victory for those of us living with the impacts of energy development. All of the bills signed by Governor Ritter address important issues, and are the result of a lot of hard work. My main issues are air and water quality. We need regular air monitoring and water testing for the specific chemicals associated with gas well drilling. None of these bills assures that. Although HB 1298 comes the closest, by making health and the environmental concerns part of the mission of the COGCC, none of the bills specifically call for health or environmental impact studies. Maybe now local communities can put the pressure on the COGCC to address our concerns.

Cautiously optimistic is the best way to describe people’s feelings. As usual the legislation comes at a time when what we really need is action. So the struggle continues.

Currently gas is $3.45/gal. Can’t help but wonder if that’s the energy companies’ way of punishing us for clamping down.

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Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel 1984 ... Generically, newspeak has come to mean any attempt to restrict disapproved language by a government or other powerful entity … A comparison to Newspeak may arguably be seen in political rhetoric, where two opposing sides string together phrases so empty of meaning that they may be compared to the taunts young children toss back and forth. The arguments of either side ultimately reduce to "I'm good; he's bad."

The Newspeak Award for June goes to the following article in what is heretofore known as The Paper (Post Indpendent):

Commission defends its lifting of the drilling moratorium south of Silt
by Donna Gray

Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission staff say their decision to lift a moratorium on natural gas drilling in an area south of Silt was a sound one.

The decision, which was made at a COGCC public hearing in Glenwood Springs in April, was unwelcome news to some people who live in that area and who have been impacted by drilling and production for years …

However none of the residents of the area were contacted for comment. If you would like to comment, please use the comment button on this blog or send email to: peggyt@siltnet.net

The moratorium was imposed in 2004 after gas escaped from an EnCana well and bubbled to the surface in and around West Divide Creek south of Silt. EnCana was fined $371,000, one of the largest fines ever imposed by the COGCC ...

… Since the moratorium was imposed, 313 gas wells have been drilled, and 13 had problems. Seven of the problem wells, including the problematic EnCana well, were located along a northwest to southeast trending alignment, believed to be a fault zone that likely was intersected during drilling of the EnCana well and led to the escape of gas along the fault line and into West Divide Creek.

Soon after the gas was discovered in the creek, EnCana recemented the well and prevented further gas from escaping. However, residual gas from the original leak continues to surface and benzene, a toxic chemical associated with natural gas production, has been measured at levels above the health standard set by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said COGCC environmental manager Debbie Baldwin …

In the mean time, the Fox (COGCC) has incorporated West Divide Creek into the East Mamm Creek area, thereby changing the name and thus the focus on that whole contaminated water wells kerfuffle – and also sanitized the news. Yay!

From now on West Divide Creek will be known as East Mamm Creek and they won’t know what the hell we’re talking about when we say West Divide Creek seep cuz, hey, they’ve moved on.

But not before they clamped down really hard on operators by restricting them to only “one drill rig at a time until five wells are drilled” and then they have to ask permission to drill a second rig – which the Fox will gladly grant even if no one has any freaking clue what that means. Oh, and some well integrity testing, too – just to make us chickens happy.

Remember, I’m open for comments – especially if you live in the West Divide Creek area south of Silt and you’re reading this. Use the comment button below or send your comments to: peggyt@siltnet.net

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In my February 23 blog entry As Silt Seeps, I told the story about the 2004 West Divide Creek seep, for which Encana was fined $371,000. A New West article covered the recent Encana fines (which I covered Monday in my Back to the Future Update). The writer also revisited the West Divide Creek seep issue.

Gas and Water Mix in Colorado’s Gas Patch
By David Frey

When natural gas wells started popping up amid western Colorado ranches, industry officials assured residents their water wells would be safe. Residents soon found out differently, and on Monday, a state hearing showed just how differently ...

… Meanwhile, EnCana and another company, Bill Barrett Corp., had planned to ask the OGCC for permission to drill within a moratorium area, but at the last minute, the two companies withdrew their request.

Why? Well tests within the moratorium area showed pressure problems, said Director Brian Macke. That suggested that the highly-fractured underground rock layers are making it hard for energy companies to case the wells with cement and prevent gas from escaping into the groundwater.

At the same meeting, the OGCC unveiled a new study of the area south of Silt and Rifle that backs up those findings. The study of the underground geology and groundwater in the region found that the area’s unusual geology could make it easier for natural gas to enter neighbors’ water wells.

In one case, the study said, a well was capped in 1994 after leaking to the surface for nearly 30 years.

The findings backed the concerns of landowners and environmentalists who have worried that the gas industry is threatening well water in the area ...

… Two years later, the seep is still bubbling, said landowner Pepi Langegger, and the place is still too dangerous to drill.

“They have the right to access the minerals under our land, but not at any cost,” he said.

After the seep was discovered, OGCC barred EnCana from drilling within a three-mile area, but it later allowed Barrett to drill. On Monday, Barrett planned to seek permission to drill more wells, and EnCana planned to ask commissioners to lift the moratorium altogether ...

Oh Encana. Your wish is the wiley old Fox’s (COGCC) command. On April 24, the moratorium on drilling in the West Divide Creek seep area was lifted, without regard for the findings of the study on geologic sensitivity.

COGCC lifts drilling moratorium south of Silt
by Donna Gray

EnCana Oil and Gas (USA) will be allowed to drill for natural gas within a two-mile moratorium area around a gas seep near Silt.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) lifted the moratorium Monday [April 24] after EnCana filed a request to be allowed to drill there.

In 2004, EnCana was fined a record $371,000 for a faulty well that leaked gas into West Divide Creek. The seep was found to contain a carcinogenic chemical - benzene - within the gas leaking from a natural geologic fault that intersected the production area on an EnCana well.

Benzene continues to occur in the seep itself. EnCana continues to treat contaminated groundwater around the seep.

The COGCC imposed new cementing rules throughout the Mamm Creek area to ensure wells are properly sealed to prevent gas from rising up the well bore.

Last summer the COGCC allowed Bill Barrett Corp. to drill up to 20 wells within the moratorium area.

In lifting the moratorium, the COGCC also established an area three-and-three-quarter-miles long by one-mile wide extending from the seep in a northwesterly direction where operators will have to take special precautions.

"The (COGCC) staff determined (part) of East Mamm Creek … very likely has a subsurface fault trend through that area," said COGCC director Brian Macke. "The staff recommended allowing drilling to go on but have added drill requirements" in the fault area.

A hydrogeological study commissioned by the Garfield County Commissioners last year revealed that the area around the Divide and Dry Hollow creeks have numerous natural and deep-seated faults that could present a challenge to operators to keep the gas within its intended pathways ...

For Silt, this is the worst news. Yeah, the gas well fires are dangerous. But so far they’ve been able to put them out. And the drilling in the Project Rulison nuclear blast site is pretty scary (read Pandora’s Radioactive Box). But there’s no evidence of any release of radioactivity.

Yet.

Except for that white Halliburton panel truck with the word RADIOACTIVE printed on the side that we saw last week ...

With the West Divide Creek seep, we have the evidence. Proof. Testing. A study.

The hydrogeological study showed that because of the geology in the West Divide Creek area, water from contaminated wells flows into West Divide Creek, which flows into Divide Creek, which flows into the Colorado River – less than a quarter mile east and upriver of Silt’s water treatment plant. This is not “may happen” or “might happen”. This was happening. This is happening. And STILL the moratorium was lifted. Therefore it will continue to happen.

Hell, the Dietrich’s well was so contaminated, Encana bought the property. But I’m sure they did that so they could do a super-duper clean-up and we don’t have to worry about that messy ol Dietrich well leeching into West Divide Creek anymore. 

Yeah. Right.

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RIFLE - Flames reportedly shot 200 feet above an EnCana natural gas well pad Monday night on Hunter Mesa after a fire broke out at a condensate tank and pit, causing concern among some area residents that the black smoke from the fire may have been toxic.Nearby Grass Mesa residents looked on as Rifle firefighters spent hours working to extinguish the blaze, the cause of which EnCana spokesman Doug Hock said is under investigation ...

… Grass Mesa resident Garland Anderson said he saw the smoke Monday night, but wasn't aware of what was actually happening.

"It appears to me, just from the experience we've had so far in our valley with the gas and oil people and the well pads and all this stuff, that the potential for a fire and explosion and injury ... and damage to property is really escalated, and I think it's going to escalate even more," said Anderson, who lives on the eastern edge of Grass Mesa, not far from Hunter Mesa.

He said he's unsure if the area has enough hazardous materials experts to provide adequate protection from gas well fires and other accidents.

"If they (gas companies) come in and create those kind of potential situations ... they should be the first on line to provide hazmat protection and so forth," Anderson said. "I don't think they've done anywhere near enough. The burden is still on taxpayers to clean up their messes."

My daughter, Ema Kwiatkowski is a Burning Mountains volunteer firefighter. I asked her about the fire, and whether the Rifle Fire Department has Haz-mat suits. Here’s her reply:

“You could see it from our house. Rifle doesn't have Haz-mat suits, but they were all on air tanks at the fire. As much as you think it'd be oh so horrible, the gunk that was burning off was probably less toxic than a general house fire, just because there would not have been much burning plastics. THAT's where the lung damaging, cancer causing smoke and particulates are. Most of the chemicals in drilling, as toxic as they are in water and elsewhere, do burn off quickly and kinda harmlessly. I'm surprised that Rifle was called though. They never call BMFD when they are in our district. The pad must have been REALLY close to residences.”

Therein lies the danger of putting these rigs so close to subdivisions and ranches. They do start on fire. This isn’t the first fire. I think it’s the 3rd fire this year – that we know about. I don’t know how many there were last year. Maybe 6. Maybe a dozen. We don’t always know about the gas well fires. If nobody sees it, it didn’t happen.

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On March 20, at a meeting in Glenwood Springs, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (aka COGCC or OGCC or The Fox), Encana was fined $99,400 for contaminating the Amos’s well south of Silt. They were also fined $77,400 for contaminating the Dietrich well in the same area. Encana bought the Dietrich property in June 2004. I wonder what they’re hiding.

Here’s the article:

EnCana fined for contaminating water wells
Company to pay COGCC $176,800
by Donna Gray

One of the largest producers of natural gas in Garfield County, EnCana, has been fined by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission for contaminating two domestic water wells south of Silt.

At a meeting in Glenwood Springs Monday, the COGCC fined EnCana $77,400 and $99,400 respectively for contamination of the Dietrich and Amos/Walker wells with gas from its nearby natural gas wells.

EnCana was fined $371,000 in August 2004 for causing a natural-gas seep in and around West Divide Creek south of Silt.

COGCC received a complaint on April 30, 2001, from Harland Walker, co-owner of the Amos/Walker well, who said the well was contaminated by gas from EnCana wells on the nearby G33 pad.

On May 1, 2001, COGCC received a complaint from Larry Amos saying his well cap had blown off and that gray fizzy water gushed from the well.

Amos' wife Laura contended that fracturing fluid from the EnCana wells, which were drilled in 2001 by Ballard Petroleum, caused her to develop a rare adrenal gland tumor in 2003.

COGCC tested the water in the Amos/Walker and Dietrich wells in 2003 and 2004 and found thermogenic or production gas was present. EnCana purchased the Dietrich property in June 2004, ...

Of course Garfield County gets all that money. In the meantime, little to no money has been allocated from the county to the local municipalities to address the impacts of gas well drilling on infrastructure and services. And not because they haven’t asked.

What are the impacts of gas well drilling on Silt?

Increased heavy truck traffic has damaged roads in and around Silt. Traffic on our streets and rural roads has increased, and so have accidents. The Board of Trustees and Town Administrator asked Garfield County Commissioners for money for road maintenance. They were told there is no money.

An influx of gas well workers has filled up the Silt motel, and consumed all available rentals (driving up the cost of rent) and affordable houses ($225,000 or less). Silt has a couple restaurants, and a few businesses. Most of the gas well workers eat and shop in Rifle and New Castle. But they live in Silt, increasing our population and the stress on our police department and emergency services, such as ambulance and fire department, which is all volunteer. We can’t even afford to pay our firefighters.

Antero Resources Corporation does drill inside Silt city limits, therefore the town has some income from that lease. However it nowhere near covers the costs to the town. Besides it’s not just Antero trucks and Antero workers that impact our infrastructure and services. It’s Encana, Halliburton, Calfrac, etc.

Gas companies pay a severance tax, which is collected by the state. But those monies have become a political slush fun, most of which goes to fun projects on the east slope – Denver region – but not in western Colorado where gas well drilling has the greatest impact. The issue of severance tax distribution is currently in dispute. So there is money, it’s just not flowing in a westerly direction – cuz of politics.

Gee. Imagine that.

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Sorry, couldn't resist.

Today Salon.com posted an excellent article about gas well drilling in and around Silt, complete with a photo of a gas well rig right next to a house. Check it out:

EPA to citizens: Frack you
In the Rockies, a gas-extraction process called "fracking" may be releasing a carcinogenic stew of chemicals. Dozens of people say it has made them seriously ill, but the EPA refuses to investigate -- a failure one of its own engineers calls "irrational and corrupt."
By Rebecca Clarren

May 5, 2006 | SILT, Colo. -- The 20 miles of interstate highway between rural Silt and Parachute, Colo., slice a crusty landscape where sagebrush clings to ochre mesas. Nearby, the snakelike silver Colorado River carves a valley floor where poplar trees, naked in the winter cold, cast spindly blue shadows across the snow. There are few exits through this section of Garfield County, where the local population of deer and elk rival the number of ranchers, retirees and others who live here.

Susan Haire, a former elementary teacher who ranches on a small scale, has lived atop one of the surrounding mesas for nearly a decade. But she says the landscape has been turned against her. When she drives down this stretch of highway, her nose bleeds, her eyes burn, and her head pounds. She's taken to wearing a respirator, even in the car.

"I feel like an alien, like I don't fit into my own environment. It's frightening," says Haire, 55, tears filling her pale slate eyes as she looks through her living room window out on her back fields. "It's horrifying what's happening here. The changes that have happened in the past 18 months are so dramatic. It's just a nightmare."

Haire's doctor blames her health problems on the scenery's relatively recent addition: 600 natural gas wells, drilled by oil companies over the past two years. Every few feet, 150-foot-tall drill rigs, graced with American flags, rise upward into the sky. Compressor stations, banks of rectangular huts with five-foot-diameter fans, sit back from the road and pump the gas into underground pipelines ...

When I moved here in 1996, the impacts of gas well drilling were monitored regularly. Wells were spaced 40 acres apart, and not near residences, water wells, creeks, and watersheds. In 1997, the Rocky Mountain Institute studied the impacts and found that, if continued at the pace back in those days and monitored regularly, gas well drilling could co-exist with the local residents and environment.

Along came the Bush administration and Halliburton and in 2001, gas well drilling mushroomed like an atomic bomb on Garfield County, and has grown exponentially ever since to the obscene levels outlined in Claren’s article. Forty acre restrictions were reduced to 10 acres. Not only are the gas wells located on or near residences, wells, creeks, and watersheds, but they are also located on the banks of the Colorado River. Because of that, this is no longer a “local” issue. Any contaminants from those wells are flowing downstream and into thousands of water supplies for millions of people in the southwest.

My point is, all the studies that have been conducted about the impacts of gas well drilling were done before the current astronomical rate of development. No new studies have been done since. Nobody knows the impacts of the current accelerated pace of gas well drilling because this level of saturation has never before been reached. So what’s the harm in studying that?

When I started this blog back in February and dedicated it to Silt, I was worried about the impacts of gas well drilling on our water and air quality and what it all means to the future of Silt – and everyone in and around it. I’ve been worried for the past 5 years. Now I’m scared. But the strange confluence of issues – gas well drilling impacts and changing the name of Silt – rising to the surface these past few weeks has helped me realize something. As yesterday’s Post Independent article stated, local people from all over the valley stood up and defended the good name of Silt. During the past couple weeks, most of the folks who talked to Tod and me about the Silt name change then added that local governments should be addressing the impacts of gas well drilling. People are awake. They are paying attention. We have been battling the gas well companies for the past 5 years, and we will continue to fight into the future.

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Watershed protection works extremely well if you have wells (not influenced by ground water), or if the water source is nearly yours exclusively (as Rifle did with one of the creeks they use). However, a river the size of the Colorado that has multiple users and uses and huge water flow is virtually impossible to regulate with watershed protection.  Jim Neu, at Leavenworth’s office, said that they didn’t even attempt it on the Colorado because it would be costly and difficult to enforce. They did it with their Beaver Creek Watershed because they could prove where any contamination came from and the uses were minimal – unlike the Colorado. I thought at one point that we could do it with the Stillwater wells in order to get the protection that the watershed would afford. Bill Lorah, the water engineer, said that it didn’t matter since the Stillwater wells were in the Colorado River Alluvium – it’s still considered Colorado River water. They’ve all said “good luck” proving where any contamination came from.  So, in short, the water engineers, Jim Neu, Lee Leavenworth, Steve Beattie and Mark Hermunstad have all said that a watershed protection ordinance would be pointless for anyone whose water source is the Colorado River. Believe me, I did extensive research on it over 2 years ago. I wasn’t happy with the answer.

We can’t require testing of water or air by the gas companies – only the COGCC and the EPA can do that. I’ve already mentioned the watershed. I did insist on putting the water and air testing provisions in the Antero lease. They have begun testing our water at our water intake for VOC contamination. They do routine air testing. We’ve done as much as the law allows … maybe we need to lobby for changes in the law!

Thank you, Rick! I think it’s fantastic to get some dialogue going on the water issue. God knows I’ve been yammering away at Tod for months. My question now is, why can’t Silt test our own water? Independently of the gas companies. When I get the answer to that question, I’ll post it here.

Stay tuned …

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Enter James Kuipers, a reclamation engineer from Butte, Montana. He authored the study, Filling the Gaps: How to Improve Oil and Gas Reclamation and Reduce Taxpayer Liability that found state and federal governments don’t require oil and gas companies to clean up their messes. In March, he visited Rifle and Silt. Here is the report of his visit:

Group addresses oil and gas reclamation
by Donna Gray

With oil and gas production in full swing in Garfield County, issues of concern usually center on the immediate effects of the industry on local landowners. However, long-term impacts also need to be addressed.

At issue for the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, a property rights group from western Garfield County, are both short- and long-range reclamation of well pads, which they believe are not being adequately considered by gas producers.

This week the organization brought in engineer James Kuipers, a mining and environmental consultant from Butte, Mont., to speak about reclamation of oil and gas production sites and its costs …

Here’s what he found near Silt:

On Dry Hollow Road south of Silt, the group stopped at a well pad where Bill Barrett Corp. had completed several wells. Walking along a country lane, Kuipers pointed out a serious erosion problem on the back of a berm surrounding the well pad. He showed the path of melting snow into a ditch below the berm and winding underneath the lane and toward Dry Hollow Creek.

Straw bales were placed near the mouth of a culvert going under the lane, the water had breached the bales and carried mud into the culvert and toward the creek.

While the company should have taken interim reclamation measures, "instead we're seeing huge amounts of erosion," he said. "In my opinion, this is a clear violation of the Clean Water Act."

Scott Donato, manager for environmental health and safety for Bill Barrett Inc., acknowledged there were problems with that particular well. The company's storm-water consultant looked at the drainage from the well pad and found the straw bales were inadequate.

"He didn't find the sediment going too far" toward Dry Hollow Creek, Donato added. "There clearly needs to be some maintenance done."

Later, standing by the side of the West Mamm Creek Road between Rifle and Silt, overlooking two completed EnCana wells and the surrounding pad, Kuipers pointed out what he characterized as missteps of the company in preparing the site for reclamation.

Kuipers pointed to a sizable pile of topsoil that will be used to revegetate the site once all the wells are drilled.

"We should be seeing this stabilized and hydroseeded," he said. Without a covering of grass, the soil is liable to erosion.

Kuipers also pointed out a ditch at the bottom of the pile.

"Here we have a ditch that is catching runoff that's going into the arroyo (nearby). It's about half full (of water)" that will fill and drain on to the well pad.

"What they're doing is not much more than cosmetic," he said. "If we lose one-quarter of this top soil, we'll lose any chance for successful reclamation" …

Encana spokeshole, Doug Hock said, “We’ve been assured by the inspectors that we’re well within compliance.” Yeah, they always say that. And he’s pretty much right on. Nobody’s looking over the gas companies’ shoulders – unless it’s to pat them on the back. And nobody’s protecting the environment.

According to Kuipers, the BLM and state and county governments currently do not require gas companies to post high enough bonds to cover the costs of reclamation. His study found Encana Oil and Gas drilled hundreds of wells on 9,792 acres of federal privates lands on Grass Mesa, south of Rifle, created 6 miles of roads, and disturbed 147 acres. He estimated reclamation and monitoring costs for that area will be close to $1 million. However Encana was only required to bond for $535,000.

About a week after Kuipers’ visit, at the March 15 City Council meeting, Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert announced that for the past 4 years, Encana has been operating 80 wells without a permit in Rifle’s Colorado River Watershed.

Mayor ‘unhappy’ with EnCana 80 wells in place without proper city permitting
By Heidi Rice  

It was either a “lack of education” or “arrogance” that caused EnCana Oil & Gas, USA to operate 80 wells in Rifle’s Colorado River Watershed District for the past four years without a permit, according to Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert.

While EnCana is generally in compliance with the city’s conditions to conduct its operations in the watershed district, council members were upset that the company is only now submitting its permit application for its drilling activities.

“You have 80 pad sites within a five-mile radius already in place,” said Mayor Lambert at the March 15 regular Rifle City Council meeting. “The question that screams at me is why haven’t you been here before? Why are we dealing with this in arrears?”

EnCana representatives Jimmy Smith, of Wagon Wheel Consulting in Rifle, and EnCana permit coordinator Brenda Herndan, did not have an answer.

“Why that did not take place in the past, I cannot honestly answer,” Smith said ...

Although the meeting was a public hearing for the permit, Lambert said he did not want to go forward until he had answers to his questions.

“Personally, I’m not willing to move forward with this permitting process until I find out why this has not taken place before,” Lambert said. “I’m unhappy with the fact that we’re dealing with this in arrears. And I’m unhappy with either the lack of education on the part of EnCana or the arrogance on the part of EnCana to go ahead and do these wells in our watershed without getting the prior approval from the city of Rifle for the permits” …

Just savor Mayor Lambert’s outrage. Cuz this is where the story takes a bizarre turn.

During an executive session – read: public not allowed -- at the April 5 Rifle City Council meeting, the mayor and council members rolled over and agreed to accept $15,000 from Encana as a late application fee. A pittance. You can’t even call it a slap on the wrist. More like, a tip.

There was an article by Heidi Rice in the April 7 issue of the Post Independent, “Rifle agrees to EnCana late application fee”. I know the article exists because it’s right in front of me. But the article has been scrubbed from the newspaper’s online archives. So I can’t link to it. Here then, is my very first entry into the memory hole:

Rifle agrees to EnCana ‘late application fee’ Company says it was ‘unaware’ of regulations
By Heidi Rice

City council members who were irate at EnCana Oil & Gas USA just last month for operating wells without a permit, agreed to a $15,000 “late application fee” from the company Wednesday [April 5] night.

The large oil and gas company could have faced millions of dollars in fines for operating 80 well pads in the city’s Colorado River Watershed District for the past four years without first obtaining proper permits … [recap of above Mayor unhappy article]

EnCana officials last week said they had been “unaware” of the regulations and blamed the situation on “miscommunication” between both parties. They also pointed out that city staff had known about their operations in the Mamm Creek area and indicated that during a routine inspection by city staff of another EnCana site in September 2003, the permits for Mamm Creek were mentioned in an off-handed manner.

“It was kind of an ‘Oh by the way, you need permits for your wells’,” said Doug Hock, spokesperson for EnCana.

According to City Attorney Lee Leavenworth, the company could technically have faced millions of dollars in fines under the city’s municipal code, which calls for a $1,000 per day per well fine for the violations. Each of the 80 well pads has about 4 wells.

But after nearly an hour-long executive session, council members reconvened and swiftly agreed to accept the $15,000 from EnCana as a late application fee.

Lambert pointed out afterwards that EnCana’s operations or procedures were not in violation. The only problem council had was that they were years late in applying for the permits,” he said.

“In recognizing they had been complying with all the necessary good practices and management practices that a large oil and gas company is required to comply with – and no degradation of the city’s water supply – the city negotiated with EnCana on the late application fee.”

No members of the public attended the public hearing and no comments were made by council members or EnCana officials.

EnCana has also agreed to pay a $250,000 bond for the wells, which would go towards reclamation, and abide by city conditions that it provide an annual report to the city about its operation plans and forecast of the year’s activities by March 1 each year.

The city will also inspect the operations twice a year to ensure compliance with the conditions of the permit.

As far as the future, EnCana said it wants to work with the city to remain in compliance, according to Jimmy Smith of Wagon Wheel Consulting in Rifle, who represents EnCana. “We look forward to continue to work with the city of Rifle on notifications and inspections,” Smith said.

Lambert said the council had also received the same assurance directly from EnCana officials. “Based on discussions we’ve had outside of council with EnCana, we’ve been given the assurance that they will take every step and every measure to comply with city ordinances in the future,” Lambert said.

Uh-huh. Yeah. Just exactly like they’ve always done in the past. Dear Mayor Lambert, A tiger doesn’t change its stripes. One can only imagine the sort of back room horse trading that went on in those 11th hour negotiations. None of it in the people’s – or the future’s – best interests.

Which reminds me … Dear Mayor Moore, Silt needs a watershed ordinance like, YESTERDAY!

On account of all that, once Silt’s water enters our house, we filter it three times before we even think of drinking it. Because, as you can see, it doesn’t really matter whether Silt has a watershed ordinance or doesn’t have a watershed ordinance. We’ve always known that.

The gas companies do what they want and get their way, no matter what. They play by their own rules. That is no longer in dispute. Now, finally with the intersection of these events – Kuipers’ visit coinciding with the Rifle watershed debacle – the evidence is clear for others to see.

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Chester Mcqueary was there. He described his experience in a 1994 essay. He concludes that it’s a good thing their experiment failed. If they had succeeded, it’s hard to imagine what a barren wasteland this valley would be today.

He felt the earth move when scientists nuked western Colorado
by Chester Mcqueary

Twenty-five years ago Americans walked on the moon for the first time, and a federal agency set off an atomic bomb 8,426 feet underground in rural western Colorado.

I was there at 3 p.m. on Sept. 10, 1969, a stowaway on the surface, you might say, when our government detonated the 43-kiloton bomb. It released 2.6 times the destructive power of the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima, Japan …

Fast forward 35 years to February 2004. Presco – a Texas gas operator – applied for permits and began drilling six wells in the area of the Project Rulison blast. According to Presco’s VP of Exploration and Production Kim Bennetts, the closest well is about a half mile from the blast site. Three of the wells are producing gas. “We monitor the gas from every well, and we’ve never found any radioactivity,” he said. Presco has 6 more drilling permits ready for approval with plans for 12 more wells.

Now it’s 2006, and a second company, Apollo Energy of Denver has requested permission for 10-acre down hole spacing for 12 directional wells off two pads on a 220-acre parcel near the Project Rulison blast site. Colorado Oil and Gas Commissioner Brian Macke said the closest well will be about a mile and a half way from the blast site. The DOE bans all drilling below 6,500 feet on a 40-acre parcel and requires notification of any surface activity within a 3-mile radius of the blast site. Nonetheless, Apollo’s request was approved on April 24.

The DOE is currently conducting a subsurface study of the blast site which is expected to be complete in 2008. According to Project Manager Peter Sanders the force of the nuclear detonation vaporized rock and created a glass-lined blast chamber that still has low levels of radioactivity.

However Presco’s paid geologist Brian Richter has conducted his own study of the data and research, meaning he hasn’t actually conducted any on site testing on his own. Richter concluded: “There’s nothing to be alarmed or concerned about. We truly believe drilling can be done safely, and I feel the data supports this. We feel it’s extremely unlikely that any well fracturing will reach the chamber. Even if it does, we don’t think there’s any gas left to worry about.”

Perhaps. But that’s not what folks are worried about. It’s that word – RADIOACTIVE – that makes people’s skin crawl. Even if fracturing (aka fracing -- pronounced fraking) does reach the chamber, the DOE subsurface study has already determined the chamber is radioactive. Fracing uses water pressure to release the gas. That wastewater is hauled away to who-knows-where. Nonetheless through accidents, spills and dumping, thousands – maybe even millions – of gallons of wastewater have already made their way into the Colorado River, our water supply. And then there’s that whole pesky issue of air quality. But hey, what tangible harm can come from teeny tiny radioactive particles in the wind anyway? Shh. No one will even notice.

Last year this article was published in High Country News:

Drilling Could Wake a Sleeping Giant
by Jennie Lay

In Colorado, a gas company edges in on a radioactive blast site

DOGHEAD MOUNTAIN, Colorado — Cary Weldon bought a 26-acre spread in rural Garfield County, Colo., in 1976. It was his own slice of rugged Western paradise, in a landscape he had come to love during annual hunting trips. Weldon’s secluded spot on Doghead Mountain is on a wooded rise above Battlement Creek, reached by a dirt road that climbs through thick stands of aspen and pine en route to the White River National Forest. These days, Weldon spends five blissful months each summer at his stately log home, high above the bustle of Parachute and Battlement Mesa, small towns that have ridden the roller-coaster of oil and gas booms and busts over the decades.

Like most Western landowners, Weldon has a deed to his property, but he doesn’t own the rights to the minerals underneath it. Energy companies lease the subsurface mineral rights from the person or agency that owns them — often the federal Bureau of Land Management. A landowner has little say in whether or not drill rigs roll onto the property, aside from often hard-fought agreements to contain surface destruction. But Weldon’s land is different: His ranch sits atop the site where, in 1969, scientists with the Atomic Energy Commission detonated a 40-kiloton underground nuclear explosion.

The blast was part of Project Plowshare, an attempt by the Atomic Energy Commission (now the Department of Energy) to find peaceful industrial applications for nuclear explosion technology. This particular experiment, known as Project Rulison, was designed to release natural gas from the tight sandstone of the Williams Fork geologic formation. Crews drilled a well 8,426 feet into the earth, used a cable to lower the long, skinny, uranium-filled fission bomb into the bottom of the well, and detonated it. Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen bomb and optimistic mastermind behind Project Plowshare, was on hand for the excitement.

The experiment was only a partial success. According to one gas industry executive, it yielded "an economic quantity of gas — if you didn’t have to buy a nuclear device to (get it out of the ground)." But the gas was too radioactive to sell.

Weldon knew about the land’s history when he bought the property from longtime Grand Valley rancher Lee Hayward. A commemorative plaque marks the well cap, which sits like a gravestone in the front yard. But Project Rulison had a silver lining: The blast had made the property a guaranteed refuge from oil and gas development. The Energy Department had banned drilling on the 40 acres immediately around the site, including all of Weldon’s property. Later, it had created a three-mile buffer around those 40 acres; the state was supposed to notify department officials of any drilling proposed within the buffer.

Weldon says he wasn’t concerned about lingering radioactivity, because the blast had taken place so far underground and the well had been filled with concrete. Government records indicate that the site has slept soundly since the well was plugged in 1976.

"(Hayward) thought the government ruined (the place), but I thought they made it," Weldon says.

Now, however, Weldon voices growing anxiety as drilling edges ever closer to the nuclear blast site and his property. Garfield County, home to a big chunk of the sprawling, gas-rich Piceance Basin, is second only to La Plata County in terms of gas production in Colorado. In 2004, companies extracted 165 billion cubic feet of gas from Garfield County, enough to supply nearly 200,000 American homes for a year.

In February 2004, Presco Inc., a Texas-based energy company, announced its plans to drill for natural gas in the area surrounding the blast site, and began applying for state permits. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has already granted some permits, and if all goes as planned, the company will drill at least 65 wells in the area, some as close as a half-mile from ground zero. Presco plans to use a technique called hydraulic fracturing to shatter the sandstone and free the natural gas inside its wells.

Both the gas company and state regulators say the drilling will be safe. But Garfield County residents have recently discovered gas seeping into local water supplies, and a company active in the area has found that its drilling techniques are not as accurate as it once thought. Some local residents are asking whether drilling so close to Project Rulison could unleash the radioactivity inside Doghead Mountain.

"Are they going to turn loose something deep down in the ground there that’s been asleep for a long, long time?" wonders Weldon …

Is it time to panic