U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (Photo via http://degette.house.gov)

“The researchers found higher lifetime cancer risks for people living closer to the wells,” reads the letter from DeGette and Rep. Henry Waxman. “They also concluded that these nearby residents have a higher risk of experiencing neurological and respiratory health effects, such as headaches, throat and eye irritation, impaired lung capacity, dizziness, fatigue, numbness in the limbs, and tremors.”

The study that DeGette, D-Colorado, and Waxman, D-California, referenced was based on a three-year review of the Battlement Mesa area of Garfield County where several companies are drilling for natural gas that a class-action lawsuit claims is endangering the community.

Escalated levels of ozone pollution have been recorded in the Uintah Basin in Utah and the Green River Basin in Wyoming near oil drilling sites and researchers say residents living near hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” operations in the Piceance and Denver-Julesberg basins in Colorado are also susceptible to dirtier air, which can impair breathing and worsen respiratory problems such as asthma.

Regulators at all levels of government are trying to establish safe standards for air emissions from fracking, which the EPA has also, at least preliminarily, linked to ground water contamination in Wyoming. Opponents of oil and gas drilling contend existing regulations are too lenient and that they are not adequately enforced. A recent report found there were 516 spills in Colorado last year and only five of them resulted in fines for the companies that allowed them to happen.

Gov. John Hickenlooper recently convened a task force to “help clarify and better coordinate” the regulatory jurisdiction between state and local governments but his critics claim the task force is a Trojan horse, designed to take away rights from local governments and instead leave their fates up to the allegedly inept state system. Boulder County, Longmont and Colorado Springs have already temporarily halted drilling activity while Commerce City, Erie and Aurora, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Elbert County, El Paso County and Huerfano County are vying for their own regulations.

DeGette and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D- Colorado, have previously asked President Obama to strengthen federal environmental and public health standards to protect against the risks associated with fracking. In speeches this year and last, Obama has emphasized natural gas as a key resource in his “all-of-the-above” strategy to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil.

Many Coloradans are protesting the increased drilling in the state, and asking for the federal government to stave off oil and gas development in the North Fork Valley and other locales.

Here is DeGette and Waxman’s letter in its entirety:

April 3, 2012

The Honorable Lisa Jackson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Jackson:

EPA is working to finalize new standards for oil and gas operations to reduce emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds and toxic air pollutants that can cause cancer and other serious health effects. As you consider these standards, we ask that you consider a new study from the Colorado School of Public Health that raises concerns about the potential public health impact of air emissions from unconventional gas drilling operations. The findings from this study, while preliminary, reinforce the importance of your forthcoming rules and the need for additional research.

Scientists at the Colorado School of Public Health examined three years of air monitoring data in Garfield County, Colorado and concluded that residents living near natural gas wells may face increased exposure to benzene, a known human carcinogen, and other toxic chemicals, such as ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene. The researchers found higher lifetime cancer risks for people living closer to the wells. They also concluded that these nearby residents have a higher risk of experiencing neurological and respiratory health effects, such as headaches, throat and eye irritation, impaired lung capacity, dizziness, fatigue, numbness in the limbs, and tremors.

The authors concluded:

[P]reliminary results indicate that health effects resulting from air emissions during development of unconventional natural gas resources are most likely to occur in residents living nearest to the well pads and warrant further study. Risk prevention efforts should be directed towards reducing air emission exposures for persons living and working near wells during well completions.

We support the responsible and safe production of U.S. oil and natural gas resources. The good news is that we can control potentially harmful air emissions from drilling operations by implementing proven technology and best practices already in use today. We hope that you will consider the results of this new study in your rulemaking, and we look forward to reviewing EPA’s new rules once finalized.

Sincerely,

Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Member

Diana DeGette
Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Water issues continue to dog uranium mining and milling operations around the state, with regulators losing patience with one company on Colorado’s Front Range and Colorado River officials still raising objections to a proposed mill in Montrose County.

Denver Water officials Monday demanded Cotter Corp., a subsidiary of General Atomics, clean up the defunct Schwartzwalder Mine near Golden that state officials say is leaking uranium into a creek that flows into a Denver drinking water reservoir, according to the Denver Post.

Cotter, which is also on the hook for an EPA Superfund cleanup near its shuttered mill in Cañon City, has been under state pressure to clean up the Schwartzwalder situation since the spring of last year. The company sued the state for “abusing its discretion” in ordering the cleanup.

The Post reports state officials on Monday said that a $1.2 million bond posted by Cotter for Schwartzwalder is inadequate to deal with the situation. Officials have been huddling with Colorado Attorney General John Suthers’ office to discuss next steps.

The Cotter Mill has been held up by opponents of a proposed uranium mill in Montrose County as an example of what can and likely will go wrong with such an operation. But the Canadian company proposing that mill, Energy Fuels, counters that technological improvements make the Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill a much safer proposal.

Still, Cotter continues to draw heat for its cleanup efforts in Cañon City, including questions this summer about using wooden pallets to cross holding ponds.

Energy Fuels, on the other hand, promises state-of-the art technology and a facility that will create jobs in western Colorado and better position the state to take advantage of a renewed surge of interest in nuclear energy.

Now the company is singing the praises of a deal worked out with the Telluride-based environmental group Sheep Mountain Alliance, which late last month “agreed to withdraw its objections regarding water use in exchange for the mining company’s adherence to certain environmental and water supply provisions,” according to the Telluride Daily Planet.

However, the group’s executive director, Hilary White, told the paper: “The agreement requires Energy Fuels to obtain all necessary conditions including water from McPhee Reservoir to mitigate impacts from withdrawing groundwater in the Paradox Valley. However, it remains to be seen whether or not Energy Fuels is able to purchase Dolores Project Water and satisfy conditions of [Colorado Water Conservation Board] — the remaining objector.”

Water, or the lack thereof in Colorado, remains the biggest hurdle to either a uranium mining or nuclear power renaissance in the state.

The two Colorado lawmakers leading the charge to clean up the controversial natural gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, were pleased by a federal advisory panel’s findings Thursday urging greater transparency and disclosure of the chemicals used in the process. But both warned much more needs to be done.

“The subcommittee’s recommendations and its acknowledgement that changes need to be made are certainly a step in the right direction,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder. “However, until legal shortcomings are fixed and voluntary recommendations become actual requirements, communities will remain without real assurance that their air, water and health are adequately protected.”

The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Shale Gas Production Subcommittee released its report Thursday (pdf), calling for mandatory disclosure of the chemicals injected deep into natural gas wells along with water and sand to fracture rock formations and free up more gas. Critics say the process can lead to groundwater contamination while industry officials maintain it’s a safe process in which the chemicals often must remain secret for proprietary reasons.

The advisory panel also urged industry to move toward best environmental practices and to improve other aspects of drilling operations that have been proven to sometimes cause groundwater contamination.

“I support their call to develop best practices for casing and cementing jobs in fracking operations,” U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, said. “Last year’s BP spill in the Gulf has been largely attributed to faulty casing and cementing, and, as I have repeatedly warned, the consequences of a similar tragedy in an onshore well could be even more catastrophic.”

Colorado regulators and industry representatives have consistently told the Colorado Independent that faulty cement jobs of gas wells and leaks from pipelines and holding ponds are more of a threat to groundwater than fracking itself, making chemical disclosure somewhat of a red herring.

Polis, who also has sponsored legislation aimed at better air-quality regulation of natural gas drilling, said he’s glad the panel report examined other aspects of the drilling process associated with fracking but warned federal regulators should not ignore the potential pollution impacts of the process itself.

“The subcommittee did the right thing in undertaking a broad evaluation of problems like toxic air pollution and faulty well casings, often not considered ‘fracking,’ by the industry,” Polis said. “However, the subcommittee shouldn’t be dismissive of water contamination directly attributed to fracking itself, with an EPA study currently underway, and recent news of just such a case.”

Polis was referring to an old West Virginia case in which EPA regulators found that fracking itself caused contamination of a drinking water well. Industry has long maintained that fracking itself occurs too far below groundwater sources to cause direct contamination.

Overall, DeGette said she was pleased that the panel recommended many of the same things contained in her Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, which she wrote and has been trying to get passed for several years. Polis is a co-author.

DeGette was particularly encouraged by the panel’s recommendation to end the use of diesel fuel in fracking, which she has targeted as potentially one of the most damaging constituents in fracking formulas. She’s seeking a better definition of diesel fuel from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Over the past several months, my committee has revealed extensive evidence of the use of diesel fuel in fracking projects across the nation,” DeGette said. “This report’s recommendation to cease use of diesel at all is a welcome development as we strive to make the fracking process safer.”

Dan Whitten, vice president for strategic communications for America’s Natural Gas Alliance, said he was happy to see the panel recommend ongoing use of voluntary chemical disclosure websites and independent review of state fracking regulations – a process Colorado is currently undergoing.

“While we will continue to study the details of the report, we are particularly pleased with the recommendation to bolster the role of the multi-stakeholder group STRONGER and the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) to work within the state regulatory framework,” Whitten said.

“The report also reinforces ANGA’s prior commitment to disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids through the state-based GWPC registry, FracFocus.org. ANGA member companies are committed to the safe and responsible development of our nation’s clean and abundant natural gas supplies.”

And the lone environmental representative on the panel, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, defended its balance. A group of scientists earlier in the week questioned the panel makeup, charging it was weighted too heavily toward industry interests.

“At a time when so much of the debate in Washington is characterized by discord and paralysis, it finds common ground and offers a clear consensus. The public’s right to clean water and clean air cannot be compromised,” Krupp said.

“The subcommittee’s recommendations won’t solve every problem overnight. But if implemented, they would make real progress toward developing this abundant energy source in ways that safeguard public health and the environment. Rigorous, well-designed standards and improved transparency and disclosure can help ensure that shale gas is developed responsibly now and in the future.”

Kids across America have some tough choices to make this summer, like which Crayola crayon should be used to depict benzene, or diesel fuel, or any of the 29 known human carcinogens used by the natural gas industry in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process.

Talisman Terry

Meet Talisman Terry, the loveable dinosaur who playfully promotes the benefits of a controversial process that’s provided much better access to his liquefied and gasified ancestors, but also comes with significant risks in terms of potential groundwater contamination – either through the fracking process itself (debatable) or all the residual fracking processes such as holding pits that frequently leak into ponds, rivers and streams (not debatable).

But as Mother Jones points out, the coloring book never uses the term “fracking,” which has taken on a negative connotation, or even names the process of hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting up to a million gallons of water per gas well, mixed with sand and undisclosed chemicals, deep into the earth under very high pressure.

The so-called frack job fractures tight rock and sand formations and frees up trapped pockets of hydrocarbons. Critics say it’s been known to contaminate much shallower groundwater supplies; industry officials deny that’s the case. Many Democrats and even some Republicans, though, are taking an increasingly hard stand.

But don’t tell that to Talisman Terry. He just wants everyone to have a safe day!

The city of Pittsburgh recently banned gas drilling within the city limits out of fear that fracking may lead to drinking water contamination – a charge the oil and gas industry steadfastly denies.

But in Silt, where nearby West Divide Creek once was so laden with methane and benzene that area resident Lisa Bracken could famously light its waters on fire, many industry critics claim the process of injecting water, sand and chemicals deep underground to free up more gas is far too risky.

It’s to the point where some Silt Mesa subdivision residents have urged a boycott of town businesses because officials there are too supportive of the industry.

Now comes the latest incident in which frequent industry critic Beth Strudley tells the Glenwood Springs Post Independent that she returned to her home after being out of town last weekend and noticed the smell of rotten eggs emanating from her family’s drinking water well. She attributes the odor to a nearby gas well and refuses to use the water.

Denver-based Antero resources has applied to the state to increase the density of its gas wells in the highly residential area. Many residents, despite the ongoing debate over fracking and the uncertainty over its potential impacts to drinking water, are understandably concerned.

The chemical makeup of proprietary fracking fluid is off limits even to emergency personnel (donnan.com)

Oxy, along with the Western Slope’s largest natural gas producer, Williams, has also been implicated in a 2008 spill that contaminated a spring near the cabin of Ned Prather in Garfield County, fouling his drinking water well and sending him to the hospital after he guzzled benzene. Both companies deny responsibility.

That case, along with a half a dozen other instances of water or soil contamination linked to drilling operations conducted by at least six different companies, remains unresolved, according to COGCC records. Some of the cases date back to 2007.

The COGCC earlier this month accepted the terms of the Oxy settlement, which included $390,000 for pit-leak contamination in the Cascade Canyon area and another $257,400 for a leak at Rock Springs. But the Prather case and several other high-profile spills remain unresolved, with no fines levied more than two years after they occurred.

Spills and unresolved cases

On Jan. 31, 2008, Marathon Oil reported a defect in a pit liner that caused the release of nearly 32,000 barrels of water that was “flow-back” from a hydrofracture job being stored in a reserve pit to be used in another “frack” job. The water, according to state documents, “infiltrated the subsurface, moved laterally, and discharged from a cliff above Garden Gulch” and into the Parachute Creek drainage.

That same month, Berry Petroleum reported a similar defective pit liner resulting in the release of an unknown quantity of drilling fluids into Garden Gulch. But the company hadn’t reported two previous spills that occurred earlier in 2008 and in November of 2007.

The Berry and Marathon cases were both reported by the Colorado Independent and other media outlets dating back to early 2008, and the incidents resulted in the COGCC reworking its regulations for pit liners on the Roan Plateau. But neither company has been fined.

“You’re right, some of [the cases] date back several years, and I don’t want to make excuses, that shouldn’t be the case,” said David Neslin, executive director of the COGCC, which is charged with permitting and regulating natural gas and oil drilling in Colorado. “We do need to do a better job at bringing timely enforcement matters, and we’re committed to doing so.”

Neslin said enforcement is the agency’s top priority for the remainder of 2010 and that he hopes to have some resolution on the Prather Springs case by mid-summer.

Deep underground detectives playing dodge ball

But while Marathon self-reported and Berry came clean after a third spill in the Garden Gulch area, no company has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the Prather Springs case. Investigators have narrowed it down to Oxy or Williams, but Neslin said multiple operators in one area contribute to delays in enforcement actions.

“These are really tough cases,” Neslin said. “You’re talking about what happened thousands of feet below the surface, and in some situations you have multiple operators or multiple facilities in an area, and so simply investigating and developing the case is difficult and very time-consuming.”

Leslie Robinson of the grassroots Grand Valley Citizens Alliance commended Oxy for coming forward in the Cascade Canyon and Rocks Springs cases, but said too many operators prefer to play “dodge ball” when it comes to admitting responsibility for spills.

“Although proof may obviously point to a company’s offense, they can claim ‘reasonable deniability’ about the event, making COGCC staff prove chemically that an XYZ frac waste or whatever contaminant actually came from a certain site,” Robinson said.

Trademark-guarded chemicals

“The big problem is frac chemicals are a secret and Colorado doesn’t believe in tagging wells, so it takes COGCC staff months, if not years, to shovel through layers of company lawyers, engineers and scientists to finally agree on what happened and what should be the financial settlement – if any.”

Both the Garfield County commissioners and Ned Prather have expressed dismay his case has taken so much time to resolve. The commissioners drafted a resolution rebuking the state for taking so long and Prather spoke to the Denver Post:

“I’ve always stuck up for oil and gas, but now when we need them to stand up and do what’s right, they won’t,” Prather told the paper last year. “If I was asked what has made me the maddest in all this, it’s the oil and gas commission not doing what they are supposed to do.”

The complexity of cases such as Prather Springs will continue to make enforcement a time-consuming process, Neslin said.

“We have a number of such cases, and so it’s partly a staffing issue – we only have so many environmental specialists and they can only do so much – and it’s partly the difficulty that these cases present, factually and scientifically and forensically,” Neslin added.

EnCana held the previous dubious record for the highest COGCC fine to date – $371,000 for a faulty concrete job that led to methane and benzene contaminating West Divide Creek near Silt. But state records show the company still has an unresolved violation involving improper reclamation of a waste pit dating back to September of 2007 and another violation for a pit spill in June of 2007.

Denver-based Antero Resources, which wants to drill up to 200 new wells in and around the Battlement Mesa community, was hit with a tank spill violation that “created an unsafe work environment” in December of 2007. But that case remains unresolved, according to the COGCC.

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An unadorned coal bed

Coal-bed methane production involves extraction of gas from coal seams and is a much shallower form of natural gas production than deep-well drilling common in places like Garfield County. An ongoing survey by the CGS reveals deep faults connecting with coals seams in Moffat County that could communicate with groundwater supplies, according to the Daily Press.

CGS officials cautioned that their findings don’t preclude production but instead indicate any company trying to develop coal-bed methane in that area of northwestern Colorado should engage in extensive study of the potential impacts. Moffat and Routt counties are helping share the study’s $121,000 price tag.

In southern Colorado, particularly in Huerfano County, coal-bed methane production has led to dangerous buildup of the gas in some local drinking-water wells, prompting the city of Walsenburg to clarify that its municipal water supply is still safe.

And environmentally tougher Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission drilling rules that went into effect last spring specifically addressed concerns about coal-bed methane production and hydraulic fracturing – a drilling process that involves high-pressure injections of water, sand and undisclosed chemicals to fracture tight geologic formations and free up more gas.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of wells for coal-bed methane can be problematic. COGCC executive director Dave Neslin said the state drafted new Rule 608 to deal specifically with that type of fracking.

There is no imminent coal-bed methane boom in Moffat County, according to the Daily Press, but county officials are trying to be proactive, drawing praise from the CGS. The last large-scale attempt was three years ago by a Michigan company in an area just outside of Lay, which is directly west of Craig.

–
Edit note: The original version of this piece included the following sentence: “Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of wells for coal-bed methane can be problematic, prompting the state to draft Rule 608 to deal specifically with that type of fracking, according to COGCC executive director Dave Neslin.” But Neslin never said fracking for coal-bed methane can be problematic. Neslin only said new rules now govern that kind of fracking, as should be clear from the new version of the paragraph. The author conflated the two parts of the paragraph and regrets the error.

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(Photo/Malia_Mia, Flickr)

But U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is just as quick to respond that it’s hard to document contamination when no one outside of the industry knows exactly what kinds of chemicals are being injected along with high-pressure water into wells to force open rock formations thousands of feet below the surface.

On a recent conference call with reporters to discuss a hydraulic fracturing — or “fracking” — bill she plans to introduce this week, DeGette, a Democrat from Denver, said most of the evidence of well-water contamination or groundwater spills is anecdotal because state and local officials don’t know what chemicals are being used.

DeGette cited the case of an emergency room nurse in Grand Junction who suffered organ failure last year after treating a natural gas worker who was coated with fracking fluids.

“She believes and many other people believe that her injuries came from chemicals that were included in the fracking fluid, but the problem is that since the companies don’t have to disclose the chemicals that are in that fracking fluid, it’s difficult to make a correlation,” DeGette said.

In a statement, DeGette and U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat from New York, a co-sponsor of the pending legislation, point to “troubling incidents around the country” in which people living near drilling operations have fallen ill. The lawmakers say chemicals known to be used in the process include “diesel fuel, benzene, industrial solvents and other carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.”

Industry officials argue the process is already regulated by state agencies and that the types of chemicals being used are trade secrets that can give them a production edge over competitors. They say the exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act granted during the Bush administration in 2005 is needed to protect desperately needed domestic energy-sector jobs.

“[Fracking’s] got an exemplary safety record and it’s vital to ensuring an American energy source,” said Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAMS). “Keep in mind that it has been regulated by the states for the last 60 years.”

Sgamma said fracking uses 99.5 percent water and sand, with the remaining percentage comprised of chemicals such as food additives, food-worthy thickeners, chlorine, bacteriasides and emulsions to thicken the mixture.

But the word of the industry isn’t good enough for Hinchey, whose district in New York’s Catskill Mountains has been the focus of stepped-up drilling activity in recent years. He said he’s heard from property owners around the country who have experienced water problems resulting from natural gas drilling.

“What we’re trying to do is restore a safe, solid, secure piece of legislation passed back in 1974 [the Safe Drinking Water Act], which had a positive effect and should be put back in place for the obvious reasons — to protect the security and safety of people across the country, to make sure their wells aren’t contaminated,” Hinchey said.

Just across the border in northeastern Pennsylvania, Carolyn Wells, who lives part time near the town of Dimock, said natural gas drilling in the mostly rural area is destroying her formerly peaceful escape from her primary residence in New York City.

“People started leasing their land like crazy during the past two years, without reading the fine print or doing any research on what it means. All they see is dollar signs that they think they will get,” Wells said, counting at least 20 neighbors whose drinking water wells are contaminated with fracking fluids. “I can’t believe people will sacrifice clean air and water for money. Doesn’t do too much good if your environment is toxic or you get cancer.”

But in Colorado, a spokeswoman for Williams, an energy company with one of the better environmental reputations on the Western Slope, discounts the notion that drinking water is being fouled by fracking fluids anywhere in the country.

“Hydraulic fracturing is really misunderstood and it’s really been misrepresented,” said Susan Alvillar, community affairs representative for Williams. “It’s such a necessary part of our business, but unless you’ve got processed water in a truck that spills into a drinking water source or a stream, hydraulic fracturing 8,000 feet underneath the ground is not going to commingle those fluids and gas with drinking water.”

In Colorado, Alvillar said, the state is more than capable of monitoring and regulating the process. IPAM’s Sgamma, who admitted there are occasional incidents, agreed: “Accidents happen, and companies are liable if they make a mistake, and they pay fines or rectify the situation.”

But DeGette made the case that the quality of water flowing from Colorado’s Western Slope impacts states like Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico, making federal oversight even more important. And she pointed out that not all states have the tougher new drilling regulations Colorado recently adopted.

“I must say I’m very proud of my home state of Colorado for passing these new stringent regulations, but all the states have not passed regulations that are the same,” DeGette said. “And the reason we passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in the first place is that we decided that safe drinking water is a national priority and that the standards should apply to everybody.”

DeGette called the jobs argument a scare campaign because her bill won’t add undue industry expense and contains provisions to allow for proprietary confidentiality when it comes to detailing the types and percentages of fracking fluids being used.

“I’ve been hearing hyperbole like this is going to put millions of people out of jobs and so on,” DeGette said. “I don’t know if the oil and gas companies don’t understand the bill or if they’re intentionally misrepresenting the bill, so I think there is an educational campaign to be made to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.”

Williams’s Alvillar, though, said Colorado’s new, environmentally tougher drilling regulations are in part to blame for the recent decline in drilling activity on the Western Slope, and another layer of federal regulation certainly won’t help the industry.

“I do know, from reading other media accounts, that it is impacting our contract workforce,” Alvillar said of the regulations. “We don’t have as much work for them to do. People, for instance, like Halliburton, who are running our well service, I know it’s impacted their workforce.”

The war of words over water is nothing new for Colorado.

Other industry watchers attribute the downturn in natural gas drilling on the Western Slope on the larger effects of the global economic crisis that caused oil and gas commodity prices to drop substantially.