Colorado Oil And Gas Conservation Commission Investigating Accusations That Drillers Injected 1.3 Million Gallons Of Diesel Fuel Into Ground

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is investigating claims made in a congressional report regarding the injection of diesel fuel into the ground during natural gas extraction.

The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reported on Friday that Dave Neslin, executive director of the COGCC, said on Thursday at meeting of the Northwest Colorado Oil and Gas Forum that the commission was "currently reviewing [its] records" on the issue.

The congressional report, issued in late January in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, suggested that tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel have been injected into the ground in 19 states as a part of the controversial extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The report suggested that 1.3 million gallons may have been used in Colorado.

Fracking involves pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the earth at high pressures in order to free up natural gas.

Democrats on the committee alleged that the use of diesel fuel in the Fracking process was a violation of the 2005 safe drinking water act.

"Today we call on the EPA to determine whether the public has been put at risk as a result of these irresponsible and possibly unlawful activities," said Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat who sits on the Energy and Commerce committee, said after the report was issued.

The Post-Independent reports that Neslin stressed on Thursday that the congressional report suggested no evidence that diesel fuel contaminated water sources in any of the states where it has been used for fracking.

He also said that the state is now looking into two particular frack jobs in Colorado. He reiterated that no evidence has been found in Colorado to suggest that chemicals from fracking have infiltrated drinking water sources.

The meeting came on the heels of a New York Times report that suggested greater environmental risks--particularly to water supplies--from fracking than previously thought.

Also this week, Obama administration officials testified before congress that they would step up scrutiny of waste disposal practices from hydraulic fracturing as a result of the study.

Comments

[Rmtns]

01:24 PM on 03/06/2011

Long past time to demand that we are allowed to know what they are pumping into our watersheds.
A list of substances at least would give us an idea of what goes down, how much comes back up, and how much potential damage can be done by the thousands of gallons of chemicals left underground.
We have no idea what happens underground. merely theories, and the danger to aquifers cannot be overstated. Those who claim it's safe fail to realize that the purpose is to break up rock underground, and the potential for a high school dropout running one of these rigs making a mistake is huge. I live in an area heavily impacted by gas drilling and the subsequent fracking activity. Water here is in short supply, and the potential of losing the aquifer to diesel or other contamination is daunting to say the leats. Should even a minor disater occur, this valley could become uninhabitable, perhaps America's Chernobyl...

[Chris Salmon]

02:25 PM on 03/06/2011

3 states (that I know of) currently require a list of chemicals used in frac operations, Colorado, Wyoming, and Arkansas. Pennsylvania and New York also have requested this information on a volunteer basis, have received it from industry, and have published the lists on the web:

"Chemicals Used by Hydraulic Fracturing Companies in Pennsylvania
For Surface and Hydraulic Fracturing Activities
Prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection"
http://goo.gl/331Jm

PA Department of Environmental Protection - Summary of Hydraulic Fracture Solutions - Marcellus Shale
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/FractListing.pdf

Wyoming Requires Disclosure of Chemicals in Natural Gas Drilling
SustainableBusiness.com News
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/21067

NY DEC - frac chemicals
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/ogdsgeischap5.pdf

Here is an excellent webinar by Penn State, explaining, due to the physics of hydraulic fracturing, the horsepower available to man, and the stratigraphy of the Marcellus, why hydraulically induced fractures cannot go beyond the bounds of the target formation:

Webinar: Plumbing the Depths in Pa: A Primer on Marcellus Shale Geology and Technology
http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars/recorded/webinar-plumbing-the-depths-in-pa-a-primer-on-marcellus-shale-geology-and-technology

[1differentdrummer]

06:15 AM on 03/05/2011

Quit griping. What's wrong with a few hydrocarbons in your water? It's for a great cause.

[Chris Salmon]

10:52 AM on 03/06/2011

Didn't you read the article? It said twice that the COGCC's executive director stressed that there was no contamination of drinking water.

[Dennisrf]

01:03 PM on 03/06/2011

My concern is that the petroleum industry is so powerful that it pretty much owns the state and federal governments. Have they poisoned our drinking water? Well, we don't know. A telling point in the article is the COGCC's comment that they are looking into their records on the issue. What? Looking into their records? They should have been on top of this all along. From what I've observed over the last decade or so of drilling in Colorado the COGCC is virtually an arm of the industry. It not only lets the industry do whatever it pleases but it works to actively assist the industry in every way.

[Rmtns]

01:25 PM on 03/06/2011

And I for one am absolutely confident in the veracity of the spokesman.. There is such a need for a sarcasm font.

[stargazer13]

11:58 PM on 03/04/2011

3.90 a gallon X 1.3 million ! = 12 million give or take a few !

really I don,t think so !! of course I will start checking and digging to make sure :)

[bcstractor]

09:28 PM on 03/04/2011

"Not infiltrated water sources". This is rubbish - it should read "We don't think it has infiltrated CURRENT water sources. It HAS infiltrated potential water sources because coal bed methane is usually found with water.

Bunch of weasels.

[Chris Salmon]

10:53 AM on 03/06/2011

?? This article isn't even about coal bed methane?

[Chris Salmon]

11:00 AM on 03/06/2011

I'm sorry, I was wrong. This article doesn't mention coal bed methane, but digging deeper into the congressional report, you find that it DOES mention it. I apologize for my error and jumping the gun here.

[GregCoyote]

02:41 PM on 03/04/2011

Halliburton? Do anything wrong? No way, they can't break the law because it doesn't apply to them anymore.

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

11:32 AM on 03/04/2011

You can bet these companies didn't pay Federal Highway taxes on diesel fuel used for fracking.
So all you have to do is add up all their non-taxed diesel purchases and you should have a rough estimate of the amount pumped into the ground, minus that used for compressor stations.