The September flooding in Colorado has caused many environmental concerns including erosion, sewage spills, and oil spills. The affects of the flooding on the oil and gas industry in particular have garnered national attention.Flooding devastated much of northeastern Colorado,including Weld County, the most heavily drilled county in the United States. More than a dozen “notable” spillsoccurred in the state releasing more than 43,000 gallons of oil and more than 18,000 gallons of “produced water” from the process of fracking. Almost all of the leaks came from dislodged tanks, valves, or pipes connected to tanks. (Image courtesy of The Denver Post.)
Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), whose district has a vast amount of oil and gas development, emphasized that congressional inquiry could help to identify ways to avoid future contamination like that in Colorado. Now that the floodwaters have receded, Polis and Rep. DeFazio (D-OR) have called on the House Natural Resources Committee to investigate the oil and gas spills. According to Ecowatch.com, “the hearing would call on members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and local elected officials to share their assessments of the damage the flooding has caused—and may cause in the future.”
Since the floods have ended and a hearing is anticipated, officials have begun assessing what occurred and how they could make things safer. They have considered practices such as “prohibitions on open pits holding produced water, closed loop systems for the recycling of that water, better ways of securing holding tanks that in some cases were swept away by flood waters and limiting well drilling in flood plains.” Alan Gilbert, an official with the Department of Natural Resources and assistant to the executive director for flood response, also indicated that future regulations may include tightening oil and gas activity in flood plains. Gilbert explained that tighter regulations have been a legislative question in Colorado before and are now at issue again. Id.
Based on what occurred in Colorado and the current expansion of oil and gas drilling nationwide, a congressional hearing is necessary—sooner rather than later. Such a hearing definitely needs to consider better practices for oil and gas wells in flood plains and in general. One issue that should be at the forefront of discussion is setbacks. Colorado officials recently enacted state rules mandating 300 feet setbacks (Rule 317(B)) for oil and gas drilling around drinking water sources. Id. In the face of the recent disaster, Colorado and other states should increase setbacks for drinking water sources to at least 1000 feet. Some people, including Gary Wockner, Colorado program director for Clean Water Action, believe that setbacks should start at one mile. That seems like an impossible feat in many areas. If you drew a circle with a one mile radius around your home, you would likely find a source of drinking water within that circle.
Additionally, officials should look to mandate metal berms at drilling locations since they have found that many earthern berms in the flooded areas were washed away and tanks storing oil and water went with them. Companies such as Noble Energy saw far better containment at sites with metal berms including restraint of floating tanks. Making the switch from earthen berms to steel containment is a minor change to current practices, but it is one that could easily prevent the movement and spilling of tanks.
A congressional hearing should also address the use of systems that allow well sites to be shut down from off-site locations. Oil and gas companies operating in Colorado found that telemetry systems which allow them to shut-in wells remotely were very effective at preventing spills. Noble Energy, for example, can close wells within a matter of minutes and monitor their status from headquarters. Id. Additionally, Encana Corporation was able to shut-in many of its wells by using a laptop and an Aircard (a device that provides internet service almost anywhere). Encana’s Longmont office was surrounded by flood waters, but the technology allowed them to avoid disaster. Id. The agencies that regulate oil and gas activities should mandate the use of this technology in flood plains as well as all areas. Who would have thought that a computer and internet service could prevent catastrophe? While it is more costly than some other practices, the telemetry systems could be useful in many situations, particularly those involving natural disasters: flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.
While environmental and conservation groups will likely pressure officials to consider prohibiting oil and gas companies from operating in flood plains in general, the affects of such a prohibition would be huge! Many existing well sites would have to be plugged. No new wells could be drilled. Companies would struggle to find drilling locations in many areas. Let’s not also forget that such restrictions could lead to job loss and increased expenses to the consumer.
Regardless of the position someone holds in this matter—be it oil or gas executive, environmentalist, citizen, or elected official—everyone can likely agree that we can improve regulations for drilling in flood plains and in general. Setbacks, steel berms, and telemetry systems are only some of the practices that should be discussed at a congressional hearing. We need to balance the interests of all those involved and take a cost-sensitive approach, but we have to make improvements and make them soon. It’s only a matter of time before Mother Nature stirs up more trouble!