Noble Energy impacts groundwater in Boulder County,CO - Volume of 'toxic' water spilled unknown?

Noble Energy Inc., files a spill incident report with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission indicating their mining operation that employs the methods of fracking, has impacted groundwater.

It is very disturbing to know that Noble Energy Inc. does not know how much 'toxic' produced water and or any other substances may have been discharged on the ground. In addition, the operator has not recovered any amount of the potentially toxic liquids that may have been released. Is the oil and gas industry that careless that they do not have adequate instruments that sound an alarm, measure volume loss, or even have spill mitigation techniques in place thus preventing adverse environmental and human health impacts?

An additional element of concern is this area  where the spill occurred is used for agricultural purposes.  What kind of product is being grown? Where does it go for re-sale? Who consumes it? Is the product fed to livestock that are being sold and later consumed?  What are the real impacts?

It's surreal that an industry with so much money cannot figure out how to prevent these types of failures. Please read the reports below to make your own determination. You can bet there will not be a fine, or if there is, it will not match the impact that was done to the environment and potentially adverse human health impacts caused from mining using fracking methods.

INSPECTION

API Number: 05-013-06048	Name:KANE #20-10
Location: SENW 20 1N 69W	Lat: 40.03831 Long: -105.14341
Operator #: 10120	Operator Name: NOBLE ENERGY PRODUCTION INC
Inspection Date: 5/5/2007	Inspector: JIM PRECUP

Inspection was: Unsatisfactory

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Insp. Type: PR	Insp. Stat: PR	Reclamation (Pass, Interim or Fail):	P&A (Pass/Fail):
Brhd. Pressure:	Inj. Pressure:	T-C Ann. Pressure:	UIC Violation Type:
Violation: Y	NOAV Sent: N	Date Corrective Action Due: 12/30/2007	Date Remedied:

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Field Inspection Comments and Observations

Insp. Comment	Inspection/Violation Comments
ACTION	REPAIR ALL LEAKS / REMOVE OIL SATURATED SOIL
MISC	PUMPJACK / SIGN / FENCED
SPILCOM	OIL SATURATED SOIL WELLHEAD AND EXHAUST OF AJAX
TANKBAT	300 BBL UPRIGHT / BERMED / SIGN / HORIZONTAL SEPARATOR / METER RUN / EMISSIONS STACK

Date Rec'd:	10/11/2011	Report taken by:	BOB CHESSON
DocNum:	2216603	API number:	05-013 -06048	Facility ID:	206553

Operator Information

Operator:	NOBLE ENERGY PRODUCTION INC	Oper. No.	10120
Address:	1625 BROADWAY STE 2200 ATTN: TED BROWN DENVER , CO 80202
Phone:	(303 )389-3600	Fax:	(303 )595-7403
Operator Contact:	TODD CULLUM

Description of Spill:

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Date of Incident:	10/4/2011
Type of Facility:	TANK BATTERY
Well Name/No.	KANE 20-10	Fac. Name/No.
County Name:	BOULDER
qtrqtr: SENW section: 20 township: 1N range: 69W meridian: 6

Volumes spilled and recovered (bbls)
Oil spilled:	Recvrd:
Water spilled:	Recvrd:
Other spilled:	Recved:
GW Impact? Y Surface water impact? N Contained within berm? N
Area and vertical extent of spill: - X -
Current land use: AGRICULTURE
Weather conditions: CLEAR AND HOT
Soil/Geology description HARGREAVE FINE SANDY LOAM, 3-9% SLOPES
Distance in feet to nearest surface water: 425
Depth to shallowest GW: 5
Wetlands: 160	Buildings: 1400
Livestock:	Water Wells: 510
Cause of spill:
EQUIPMENT FAILURE
Immediate Response:
TANK BATTERY HAD BEEN SHUT IN PRIOR TO BEGINNING WORK. CEMENT WATER VAULT HAD BEEN SUCKED DRY.
Emergency Pits:
N/A
How extent determined:
THE SITE WILL BE ASSESSED USING A GEO PROBE RIG TO FURTHER DELINEATE THE IMPACT TO GROUND WATER AND SOILS.
Further Remediation
FURTURE REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES WILL BE DISCUSSED IN FUTURE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THIS REMEDIATION PROJECT.
Prevent Problem:
NEW OIL AND WATER DUMP LINES AND WATER VAULT WILL BE INSTALLED.
Detailed Description:
DURING BATTERY UPGRADE IT WAS FOUND THAT THE CEMENT WATER VAULT HAS BEEN LEAKING.

Other Notifications
Date	Agency	Contact	Response
10/10/2011	COGCC	ROBERT CHESSON	LEFT BOB A MESSAGE