Bobby Magill/The Coloradoan
Michael Ward, chief operating officer for Ranchers Exploration, speaks to a crowd of residents Monday night about the company's interest in drilling for oil 1½ miles directly beneath Windsor neighborhoods, which are in Larimer County along the Poudre River, using a drilling technique called directional drilling.
WINDSOR - Don't frack our neighborhood.
That was the message more than 150 River West and Ridge West subdivision residents sent to Ranchers Exploration during a town hall-style meeting Monday night after the Greeley oil company sent each homeowner a lease to sign that would allow it to drill for oil 200 feet from the homes.
Residents attended the meeting worried about the implications of oil drilling encroaching on their homes and degrading property values, and they worried how a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which the companies use to crack open rock underground, might hurt their health.
Continue reading...
OUR TAKE:
We were present at this meeting. The image above is a directional view of the over 150 people that were present. This image was taken after many people had been fed up and actually walked out of the meeting. Prior to many people walking out, there were concerned surface owners lined up along the side of the wall elbow to elbow and out the entrance door anticipating any qualitative and quantitative information they expected from this meeting.
The sweet, low voiced, often non-audible rhetoric and repetitive excuses from Michael Ward caused many people to shout attacks like: “Why did you come here if you know nothing about fracking?” “We want answers to our questions and you have not provided any to our questions.” "Go home if you are not here to help us."
Mr. Ward deferred any and all questions to the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission’s (COGCC) website. WTFrack.org are hydraulic fracturing investigators and we have seen hundreds of people deferred to the COGCC to indemnify the CEO's like Mr. Ward from any answers they may have erroneously provided. Mr. Ward is following the Oil &Gas mantra of attempting to pacify the public with hopes and dreams and big money but in reality, the surface owners have no rights when it comes to sub-surface mineral mining under the Split Estate Law.
“In split estate situations, the surface rights and subsurface rights (such as the rights to develop minerals) for a piece of land are owned by different parties. In these situations, mineral rights are considered the dominant estate, meaning they take precedence over other rights associated with the property, including those associated with owning the surface. However, the mineral owner must show due regard for the interests of the surface estate owner and occupy only those portions of the surface that are reasonably necessary to develop the mineral estate.
“The specific drilling site hasn't been determined yet,” said the company's chief operating officer Michael Ward. However, later in the evening Ward stated “they will initially start fracking on the open areas.”
Dave Neslin, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said last week that nearly all of the thousands of wells in Northern Colorado have been fracked, and the commission has yet to receive any complaint about contamination from fracking fluid.
In the COGGC’s complaint database it showcases ten complaints in Larimer County where on 12/03/2010 MAGPIE OPERATING, INC, Operator number 52530 had received a complaint from Nick Pizzuti/Xcel Energy.
Mr. Pizzuti (Xcel Energy) called and left message that condenstate (natural gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced) and pipeline liquids were coming to the ground surface at the Xcel Energy Boyd Lake regulator station.
Date Rec'd: | 12/3/2010 | Complaint taken by: | STEVE LINDBLOM |
DocNum: | 200285530 | API number: | 05-069-05073 |
Complaint Type: |
Complainant Information |
Name: | Nick Pizzuti/Xcel Energy |
Address: | 1123 W 3rd Ave Denver , CO 80223 |
Date Received: | 12/3/2010 |
Connection to Incident: | employee of Xcel Energy |
Description of Complaint: |
Operator: | MAGPIE OPERATING, INC | |||||||
Oper. No. | 52530 | |||||||
Date of Incident: | 12/3/2010 | |||||||
Type of Facility: | WELL | |||||||
Well Name/No. | ||||||||
County Name: | ||||||||
Operator contact: | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Complaint Issue | ||||||
Issue: | SPILLS | Assigned To: | STEVE LINDBLOM | Status: | In Process | |
Description: | Mr. Pizzuti (Xcel Energy) call ed an left message that condenstate and pipeline liquids were coming to the ground surface at the Xcel Energy Boyd Lake regulator station. | |||||
Other Notifications | |||||
Date: | 3/28/2011 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
Informed Mr. Warner that analytical results from March 4 samples exceed Table 910-1 standards for TPH. Warner replied that additional investigation and remediation would be conducted. Refer to scanned email of 3/28/2011 | |||||
Date: | 3/4/2011 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
Subsequent to additional excavation, COGCC staff visited location. Collected soil samples from bottom and sidewall of excavation. Warner collected split samples. Analysis of sample indicated TPH in excess of Table 910-1 standards. | |||||
Date: | 1/5/2011 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
| COGCC revisited site. Collected additional soil samples. Analytical results indicate TPH >500 mg/kg. Notified Ryan Warner. Magpie will plan additional remediation efforts. | |||||
Date: | 12/28/2010 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
COGCC staff visited location. GPS extent of excavation. Dug down approx. 2 feet below bottom of excavation and collected soil sample. Analysis of sample indicated TPH in excess of Table 910-1 standards. Inform Magpie of elevated soil concentrations and sggested additioan; measures necessary to remediate site. | |||||
Date: | 12/8/2010 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
Informed Mr. Warner that sample results exceeded allowable elvelsa dn informed him additional excavation would be necessary. | |||||
Date: | 12/7/2010 | Agency: | TestAmerica | Contact: | Lori Parsons |
Response or Details | |||||
Recieved analytical results indicated conentrations iof TPH in excess of Table 910-1 Standards. | |||||
Date: | 12/3/2010 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
Magpie explained their intentions to excavate the impacted soi and repair the leak in the pipeline. COGCC suggested that it would be necessary to collect samples of soil to verify that all impacted soil had been removed. | |||||
Date: | 12/2/2010 | Agency: | Magpie Operating | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
COGCC East CO Env Supervisor visited site of spill (s/2 20 5N 68W). Excavation in progress. Soils with stain and odor observed along north wall of excavation. Magpie intended additional excavation and soil sampling. On return visit, COGCC noted excavation partially backfilled. Collected soil samples from excavation sidewall and backfill material for TPH analysis. | |||||
Date: | 12/2/2010 | Agency: | Magpie | Contact: | Ryan Warner |
Response or Details | |||||
| COGCC East CO Env Supervisor visitied site (s/2 20 5N 68W. Excavation in progress. Soils with stain and odor observed along northwall of excavation. Magpie inteneded additioanl excavation and soil sampling. On return visit, COGCC noted excavation partially backfilled. Collected soil samples from excavation sidewall and backfill material for TPH analysis | |||||
source WWW.COGCC.state.co.us
 |
| Complaint Location |
The Oil & Gas industry is an army of unregulated looters unbound by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. They do not have to comply with the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Superfund Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The citizens have but one recourse: create and sign en mass, a petition that calls for a moratorium on fracking until such time that scientific studies assess the direct and indirect impacts hydraulic fracturing, frac-fluids, fugitive emmissions, and any and all related procedures, equipment and compounds that may have negative impacts on human health and the environment as a whole. The moratorium should also include a full disclosure on frac-fluid (toxic chemicals used in the processes of fracking), and a full disclosure on all water sources used and quantities of water used annually in Larimer and Weld counties for the use of fracking.
The citizens must be informed and must work together to stop this industry from potentially destroying the environment and their livelihood. WTFrack.org will be providing such language for a moratorium very shortly where you can participate in your local area.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
WTFrack.org is a medium for concerned citizens to express their opinions in regards to 'Fracking.' We are Representatives of Democracy. We are Fractivists. We are you.