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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Lisa Bracken wonders if gas drilling activity near her Silt home has impacted her family's drinking water source. She'd like to test the water for safety.
“But I can't test it because you have to know what you're testing for,” Bracken said. “It's pretty awful.”
Forty Encana Oil and Gas wells operate within a mile radius of Bracken's home near Divide Creek where she's lived for 20 years. Encana moved into the area in 2003.
In 2004, an improperly cemented well where hydraulic fracturing occured blew gas into Divide Creek.
“It was a mess — it's still not gone,” Bracken said. “It continues to blow benzene into the shallow ground water west of Divide Creek. We live downstream from there.”
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found Encana liable for the 2004 mishap and the company was fined $371,000.
Bracken's father died two years ago of pancreatic cancer, at 63. Doctors told her he did not fit the profile of someone likely to contract the disease, Bracken said.
“He drank out of the (Divide) creek. He was an outdoorsman. He'd boil it, but that doesn't take out synthetic chemicals.”
In hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — fluids are injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to blast them open and increase the flow of fossil fuels. Some chemicals that are known to have been used in fracking include diesel fuel, benzene, industrial solvents, and other carcinogens and endocrine disrupters, according to a U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) Web site.
The oil and gas industry is the only industry exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Congress exempted hydraulic facturing in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 during the Bush administration.
Legislation — the Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act — was introduced Tuesday in Congress by DeGette, Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), along with a companion Senate bill by Bob Casey (D-PA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would require the industry to give public access to the chemicals used in the fracking process. The proposed legislation would repeal the exemption that currently allows the industry to withhold that information.
“What this bill does is require companies to disclose the chemicals, but not the proprietary formulas,” said DeGette spokesman Kristofer Eisenla. “When it comes to protecting public health — that's not unreasonable.
“It simply requires the oil and gas industry to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act with the same rules as everybody else. It's the only industry that has that exemption.”
Nine Colorado municipalities, including Glenwood Springs and Durango, have passed resolutions similar to the proposed federal legislation.
The oil and gas industry is opposed to lifting the exemption.
Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said fracking fluids are safe. The fluids are comprised of 99.5 percent water and sand, with the remainder being various chemicals like you'd see in household cleaners and food additives, Sgamma said.
“If it's so safe why don't they just tell us what's in there?” asked Bracken.
Bracken said she and other community members met with Encana representatives four times, and were promised a list of the chemicals, but never received it.
Encana spokesman Doug Hock said the legislation is unnecessary because state regulations are already in place, and are better equipped to understand the geography and hydrology of an area.
“They look at well integrity and how we protect water aquifers,” Hock said.
“Colorado regulations were adopted in April and now we have another attempt to regulate on the federal level. We feel (fracking) is thoroughly and adequately regulated at the state level.”
Under new state oil and gas rules adopted in April, the industry is required to give its inventory of chemicals to medical personnel when requested, as well as to the oil and gas conservation commission. The general public remains barred from access however.
An industry trade association said in a June 4 press release that “there are no documented cases of contamination to drinking water” due to hydraulic fracturing. However, DeGette spokesman Eisenla said the “reason we don't know, is they're not subject to any reporting.”
There are no oversight requirements, he said.
“So basically all we have is anecdotal evidence from across the country of people getting sick or water being contaminated because of fracking fluid. People living near oil and gas operations have complained of cancers, strong odors in their drinking water and oily films coming out of their tap, Eisenla said.
In August, 2008, a Durango emergency room nurse reportedly became ill and almost died after treating a gas worker who had been splashed with fracking fluid. In 2008, the patient and her doctors could not get access to the names of the chemicals in the fluids.
On June 1, 2008, Bracken reported finding a new seep on her property. She noticed bubbles circulating on the surface of West Divide Creek and it smelled like a “propane tank,” because raw natural gas brings up odors from hydrocarbons in the ground, Bracken said.
A moratorium on drilling had been in effect after the 2004 seep. Two years later the moratorium was lifted, and Bracken again noticed bubbles in the creek, which she said became progressively worse.
Hock said multiple tests were conducted by Encana third party testers, as well as the oil and gas conservation commission, and that no contamination was found.
It took three months after she reported the seep before a commissioner would come out to the property to take a look at the it, Bracken said.
Garfield County Commissioner and oil and gas conservation commissioner, Tresi Houpt said the findings were inconclusive, and that the outcome may not have been the same had further testing been conducted.
The commission “did not do all the testing she requested,” Houpt said. “I wish they had.”
Before gas drilling began in 2003, Bracken said there used to be elk, deer, wild turkeys, badgers, bears, cougars and eagles on her property. She said the wildlife has since left.
She said she told state officials and Encana employees of the disappearance but there was no response.
“Their objective is to develop resources and we are simply in their way,” Bracken said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
“But I can't test it because you have to know what you're testing for,” Bracken said. “It's pretty awful.”
Forty Encana Oil and Gas wells operate within a mile radius of Bracken's home near Divide Creek where she's lived for 20 years. Encana moved into the area in 2003.
In 2004, an improperly cemented well where hydraulic fracturing occured blew gas into Divide Creek.
“It was a mess — it's still not gone,” Bracken said. “It continues to blow benzene into the shallow ground water west of Divide Creek. We live downstream from there.”
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found Encana liable for the 2004 mishap and the company was fined $371,000.
Bracken's father died two years ago of pancreatic cancer, at 63. Doctors told her he did not fit the profile of someone likely to contract the disease, Bracken said.
“He drank out of the (Divide) creek. He was an outdoorsman. He'd boil it, but that doesn't take out synthetic chemicals.”
In hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — fluids are injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to blast them open and increase the flow of fossil fuels. Some chemicals that are known to have been used in fracking include diesel fuel, benzene, industrial solvents, and other carcinogens and endocrine disrupters, according to a U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) Web site.
The oil and gas industry is the only industry exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act. Congress exempted hydraulic facturing in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 during the Bush administration.
Legislation — the Fracking Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act — was introduced Tuesday in Congress by DeGette, Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), along with a companion Senate bill by Bob Casey (D-PA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would require the industry to give public access to the chemicals used in the fracking process. The proposed legislation would repeal the exemption that currently allows the industry to withhold that information.
“What this bill does is require companies to disclose the chemicals, but not the proprietary formulas,” said DeGette spokesman Kristofer Eisenla. “When it comes to protecting public health — that's not unreasonable.
“It simply requires the oil and gas industry to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act with the same rules as everybody else. It's the only industry that has that exemption.”
Nine Colorado municipalities, including Glenwood Springs and Durango, have passed resolutions similar to the proposed federal legislation.
The oil and gas industry is opposed to lifting the exemption.
Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said fracking fluids are safe. The fluids are comprised of 99.5 percent water and sand, with the remainder being various chemicals like you'd see in household cleaners and food additives, Sgamma said.
“If it's so safe why don't they just tell us what's in there?” asked Bracken.
Bracken said she and other community members met with Encana representatives four times, and were promised a list of the chemicals, but never received it.
Encana spokesman Doug Hock said the legislation is unnecessary because state regulations are already in place, and are better equipped to understand the geography and hydrology of an area.
“They look at well integrity and how we protect water aquifers,” Hock said.
“Colorado regulations were adopted in April and now we have another attempt to regulate on the federal level. We feel (fracking) is thoroughly and adequately regulated at the state level.”
Under new state oil and gas rules adopted in April, the industry is required to give its inventory of chemicals to medical personnel when requested, as well as to the oil and gas conservation commission. The general public remains barred from access however.
An industry trade association said in a June 4 press release that “there are no documented cases of contamination to drinking water” due to hydraulic fracturing. However, DeGette spokesman Eisenla said the “reason we don't know, is they're not subject to any reporting.”
There are no oversight requirements, he said.
“So basically all we have is anecdotal evidence from across the country of people getting sick or water being contaminated because of fracking fluid. People living near oil and gas operations have complained of cancers, strong odors in their drinking water and oily films coming out of their tap, Eisenla said.
In August, 2008, a Durango emergency room nurse reportedly became ill and almost died after treating a gas worker who had been splashed with fracking fluid. In 2008, the patient and her doctors could not get access to the names of the chemicals in the fluids.
On June 1, 2008, Bracken reported finding a new seep on her property. She noticed bubbles circulating on the surface of West Divide Creek and it smelled like a “propane tank,” because raw natural gas brings up odors from hydrocarbons in the ground, Bracken said.
A moratorium on drilling had been in effect after the 2004 seep. Two years later the moratorium was lifted, and Bracken again noticed bubbles in the creek, which she said became progressively worse.
Hock said multiple tests were conducted by Encana third party testers, as well as the oil and gas conservation commission, and that no contamination was found.
It took three months after she reported the seep before a commissioner would come out to the property to take a look at the it, Bracken said.
Garfield County Commissioner and oil and gas conservation commissioner, Tresi Houpt said the findings were inconclusive, and that the outcome may not have been the same had further testing been conducted.
The commission “did not do all the testing she requested,” Houpt said. “I wish they had.”
Before gas drilling began in 2003, Bracken said there used to be elk, deer, wild turkeys, badgers, bears, cougars and eagles on her property. She said the wildlife has since left.
She said she told state officials and Encana employees of the disappearance but there was no response.
“Their objective is to develop resources and we are simply in their way,” Bracken said.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
