Home > GJsentinel.com breaking news > Archives > 2008 > March > 20 > Entry
‘Frozen mound’ of drilling mud worries Parachute
A million-gallon pile of drilling mud still sits in Garden Gulch, upstream from Parachute, awaiting the rapidly approaching spring thaw.
Incoming Parachute Town Administrator Robert Knight calls it “the frozen mound,” and that’s about all that is really known about it.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued a notice of violation to Berry Petroleum in connection with the mound, which sits at the bottom of a draw in the mountainous area north of Parachute. Berry said in an e-mailed news release that company officials had met with the commission staff and supplied additional information.
“Berry looks forward to working with the commission to address their concerns and corrections of statements in the posting. In fact, all the corrective actions listed in the (notice of violation) have been either commenced or completed already,” the company said.
Officials with the oil and gas conservation commission could not be reached for comment.
Rancher Sid Lindauer, Parachute officials and the Colorado Division of Wildlife all want to know more about what’s happening with the muddy stalagmite.
“You would be surprised at our ignorance of the matter,” Knight said.
Town officials are scheduled to meet soon with state officials, but they haven’t had any questions answered yet, Knight said.
The mound poses no threat to the town’s drinking water, but it could be an issue for irrigation water, he said.
Lindauer said his ranch sits about eight miles downstream on Parachute Creek from the drilling-mud pile in Garden Gulch.
“It’s a pretty serious offense,” he said. “They know we live downstream. I have cattle and horses that drink out of that stream.”
Lindauer has been monitoring the stream through his property and in the last week or so it has been kind of cloudy, he said. “There was something in the creek prior to today for sure,” he said Thursday.
The Division of Wildlife was notified about two weeks ago by the oil and gas conservation commission about the spill and was recently allowed access to the mound area, which is on private property. Wildlife officials, however, weren’t allowed to sample waters of the stream that sits below the drilling-mud pile, DOW spokesman Randy Hampton said.
The pile sits at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, so spring has yet to arrive in full force.
But spring will reach the higher country eventually and, “Our concern is that once it warms up and this melt begins to occur, we’ll have all this brown stuff running down the creeks,” Hampton said.
Permalink | |
