BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL & TROUBLE

Gas and Water Mix in Colorado’s Gas Patch

By David Frey, 3-21-06

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.

Meeting in Glenwood Springs, the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission announced it was slapping EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) with a pair of fines totaling $176,800 for contaminating two water wells south of the towns of Silt and Rifle, one of the state’s biggest drilling hot spots.

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.

“It’s just too fractured to drill safely,” said Peggy Utesch, secretary of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance.

The issue came to a head two years ago when natural gas began to bubble up in West Divide Creek, south of Silt. The OGCC linked it to a nearby EnCana well and slapped the company with state’s the largest fine ever – $371,200. Officials speculated that the fractured geology on the edge of the Grand Hogback, the eastern edge of the gas-rich Piceance Basin, was complicating well casings. The state used the fine money to pay for the study to look into what was happening underground.

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.

Officials indicated they might give the green light until test results revealed lingering problems within the no-drill zone.

Still, the two companies are slated to come before the OGCC again next month, and Macke said, with proper cementing procedures, the problems can be avoided. He’d like to replace the three-mile moratorium with a new zone that better reflects the geology.

Critics say industry should leave the area alone.

“We always said, let’s try to find out why did the gas come to the surface there,” Langegger said. “Is the area more sensitive? And that seems to be confirmed. If that’s the case, stay away from it.”

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.