May 1st, 2012
Colorado oil and gas regulators have declared an emergency
at an oil well being drilled atop an old landfill on the Larimer County side of
Windsor – a well that generated a groundswell of public concern when it was
announced last year.
A drilling rig became unstable last Wednesday as Ranchers
Exploration Partners was drilling an oil well atop the long-shuttered Johnston
Landfill in Windsor, a site near the River West and Ridge West subdivisions
south of Colorado Highway 392.
The well site is on a hill above a gulch that drains into a
nearby reservoir along the Poudre River.
After Greeley-based Ranchers Exploration attempted to
stabilize the drilling rig with cement, landfill debris and other trash were
seen being expelled from the well bore, and the rig lost “circulation of
fluids, likely due to the presence of highly permeable unconsolidated landfill
materials,” according to a cease-and-desist order the state served Ranchers
last week.
In last week’s cease and desist order, Colorado Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission Acting Director Thomas Kerr declared an emergency
because Ranchers’ operation poses an environment and public health risk.
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