The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is investigating four large waste releases from natural gas and oil reserve pits near Rifle, CO, including two that apparently went unreported for two months.

COGCC’s Dave Neslin said the spills took place between November 2007 and February. The releases drained into Garden Gulch, which is west of the Roan Plateau. One release of about 30,000 barrels of drilling mud was immediately reported to the state. A second release by a different operator also was reported, but that operator failed to report two other releases of still-undetermined volumes. The volume of the three releases was not reported.

“Releases of drilling mud from pits are not uncommon,” said Neslin. “But releases of this magnitude in this kind of terrain and without notification are extremely rare.” The reserve pits hold the water, mud and additives used in drilling, according to the COGCC.

“Even though the pits are well built and lined, it appears the releases were due to failures in the lining,” the COGCC said. Some of the drilling mud from the spills remains within a frozen waterfall that will flow into the West Parachute Creek in the spring, according to the commission.

As snow melts, “runoff may cause problems for oil and gas operators in western Colorado,” Neslin said. The COGCC “is prepared to take action that allows companies to move drilling fluids away from the drainage and better contain them during the spring snowmelt.”

Neslin stressed that he was concerned about the risks from heavy runoff and said he would welcome “operators’ ideas about handling snowmelt that could potentially fill and spill from reserve pits…We’re looking at possible ways to address situations like this both proactively and when they come up. Operators must notify the COGCC immediately when this occurs.”

The COGCC withheld the names of the operators. It also withheld approval of about 80 drilling permit applications near Garden Gulch pending the completion of the investigation.

In response to the COGCC investigation, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) was quick to note that the state’s current regulatory scheme was working. The COGCC is scheduled to issue revisions to the oil and gas regulations on March 31 (see Daily GPI, March 7).

“The COGCC’s current investigation is a clear example that the existing rules and regulations — developed through years of collaborative rulemaking with local governments and others — are working,” said COGA president Meg Collins. “On behalf of the 70,000 Coloradans working in our industry throughout the state, we are steadfastly committed to keeping our work sites in a condition that meet and even exceed current regulations. As acting director Neslin states, these situations are rare.”

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