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Thursday, March 20, 2008
‘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.
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UPDATE: Broadway reopens in both directions
Broadway is back open in both directions at Ridges Boulevard after an afternoon gas line break affected thousands of commuters.
An Xcel Energy contractor was boring underneath Broadway while working on an electrical system about 1 p.m. when workers hooked a 4-inch gas line and punctured it as they were pulling the heavy equipment out of the hole, Xcel spokeswoman Ethnie Groves said.
Groves said she did not know the name of the contractor.
Mike Page, spokesman for the Grand Junction Fire Department, said crews thought they would be able to fix the problem by placing a sleeve over the line. Instead, workers had to dig holes on either side of the line to repair it.
He said officials shut down gas to seven houses in the area but that the cut line was not a danger to nearby residents and there were no evacuations.
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Ritter signs bill tightening rules for off-road vehicles
DENVER (AP) — Gov. Bill Ritter has signed a bill that tightens the rules for off-road vehicles that allows 250 state officers to enforce laws on federal lands.
The new law (House Bill 1069) prohibits motor vehicles from using public lands, trails, or roads unless it’s authorized by a sign or other means.
Violations in designated wilderness areas would carry a $200 fine.
Supporters defeated an amendment that would have made the trails open to use unless they are specifically closed. Instead, people will be given maps to tell them which ones are open, or they could check the signs.
Opponents argued it’s wrong to use state funds to enforce laws for the federal government.
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BLM extends public comment period on oil shale study
The BLM announced today it is extending the public comment period on the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement by 30 days.
The public comment period was originally slated to end today.
“Offering an additional 30 days for interested citizens to comment is another in a series of actions we feel are important in working with states and local communities on developing federal oil shale resources while also meeting the direction Congress has provided,” BLM Director James Caswell said in a statement. “This includes revisions made last August to the PEIS work schedule and the document itself, which we made in response to comments from federal, state and local governments.”
The BLM’s decision, which came on the same day Gov. Bill Ritter released his comments on the study, was sparked by requests for more time from several Western Slope cities and counties, including Grand Junction.
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Ritter to BLM: Hold off on oil shale development
Gov. Bill Ritter encouraged the Bureau of Land Management today to hold off on allowing commercial oil shale development in northwest Colorado, citing the “serious risk” of “tremendous adverse impacts” on the state’s water, wildlife and public lands.
In a letter to the BLM, Ritter said the federal government should wait until private companies can develop safe and efficient ways to develop commercial oil shale prior to permitting commercial development on federal land.
“It is premature for the BLM to make any decisions that allocate federal land to a commercial leasing program through its resource management plans or otherwise,” Ritter said.
Ritter’s letter came in response to the BLM’s Oil Shale and Tar Sands Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, released in December. The agency’s study covered the possible effects commercial oil shale development could have on Colorado and the region.
The BLM’s study outlined a series of scenarios for developing oil shale. The agency’s preferred scenario called for the development of 1.99 million acres of federal land and mineral estate, including 359,000 acres southwest of Meeker and north of Parachute.
The government has estimated there are 1.8 trillion barrels of oil locked in the shale stone of western Colorado, eastern Utah and southeast Wyoming.
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Broadway closed in both directions due to gas line cut
Broadway is closed in both directions at Ridges Boulevard this afternoon after a gas line was cut.
The line was cut just before 1 p.m. on the north side of Broadway, where crews have been doing work for the last several days.
Initial reports indicated Broadway will be closed for at least two hours. Crews from Xcel Energy, the Grand Junction Police Department and Grand Junction Fire Department responded to the scene.
Check back with GJSentinel.com for updates later this afternoon.
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Energy industry advocates argue against ‘over-regulation’
Advocates and surrogates for the oil and gas industry voiced their concerns today that a series of forthcoming drilling regulations could negatively affect the Western Slope’s economy.
Representatives from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce and other organizations said the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission should not dramatically rewrite its drilling regulations.
Larry Kent, a member of COGA’s board of directors, said he hopes the commission does not “rule out” the energy industry with its forthcoming drilling rules, expected out by the end of this month.
Kent said “over-regulation” could shut down all or part of the energy industry, depriving the region of an important economic driver.
Dave Cesark, an environmental affairs official with Williams Production, said improving the state’s regulations on oil and gas drilling can be good. Nonetheless, he said a series of pre-draft rules the commission released in January give him pause about the direction the state is heading.
“The big question is … is an overhaul or sweeping changes really appropriate?” Cesark said.
The Grand Junction press conference, held at Two Rivers Convention Center, came at the same time as three other press events COGA held in Denver, Greeley and Trinidad.
Deb Frazier, spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources, said the state is interested in implementing “appropriate” regulation of the industry and not driving development from the state.
“We are committed to ensuring this $23 billion a year industry continues to thrive, but we’re also just as committed to protecting our mountains, our forests, our streams, our wildlife, our air quality and our community from the impacts of drilling,” Frazier said.
She said the oil and gas industry has been consulted throughout the rule-making process, and their concern will be taken into consideration.
Matt Sura, energy organizer for Western Colorado Congress, said industry advocates have presented Coloradans with a “false choice.”
He said the commission is simply pursuing “common-sense regulations needed to protect air quality and water quality.”
Sura said it is inappropriate to suggest Colorado cannot both have a prosperous energy industry and protect public health, open space and wildlife.
— Mike Saccone
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Forecast: Energy industry helps Western Slope to evade economic slowdown
The Western Slope is expected to sidestep a national and regional economic slowdown thanks largely to its thriving oil and gas industry, economic forecasts released today show.
“The western region, driven by the boom in the oil and gas industry, continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the state based on employment, retail trade sales and nonresidential construction,” the nonpartisan Colorado Legislative Council reported.
The quarterly economic forecast reported the rising prices for natural gas has buoyed the energy industry at a time when other economic sectors are declining statewide.
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UPDATE: Clifton fire
A fire at 601 Lodgepole Street, near 3050 Patterson Road in Clifton, appears to have been touched off by a homeowner burning leaves.
The Clifton Fire Protection District and the Grand Junction Fire Department responded to the fire around 10:30 this morning.
The second level of the two-story home was engulfed in flame, sending thick black smoke hundreds of feet into the air, by the time firefighters arrived.
The fire has been extinguished.
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Paper ballot bill dies at Capitol
Not with a bang but a whimper the Senate Appropriations Committee killed the governor’s bid to force Colorado counties to hold the 2008 elections primarily with paper ballots.
The bill’s death today follows months of wrangling between the governor’s office, legislative leaders, Secretary of State Mike Coffman and the state’s local elections officials.
Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, said the bill’s chief sponsor and supporter, Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, declined to attend the bill’s final hearing, which lasted less than 15 minutes.
“He doesn’t want to even witness this moment,” Morse said.
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Janice Rich said she was relieved to know the paper-ballot bill finally is dead.
“That’s great news,” Rich said. “People can plan on having the ability to either vote by mail, vote early, if that’s their choice, or vote on Election Day.”
She said the county will move ahead with “business as usual.”
The governor and legislative leaders unveiled the paper-ballot bill in late February in reaction to Coffman’s decision late last year to decertify electronic voting machines used across the state.
From the beginning, however, the state’s local elections officials opposed the measure, asking to either have the freedom to conduct the elections as they saw fit or as using all mail-in ballots.
Calls for the paper-ballot bill’s death only grew last month when Coffman re-approved the electronic voting machines he had decertified in December.
House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said she and the bill’s other sponsors decided to abandon their efforts after considering the secretary of state’s decision to recertify the previously disqualified voting machines.
“Existing law seems to be sufficient,” Madden said.
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said he was delighted to hear of the bill’s demise.
“I opposed it from the beginning,” Buescher said. “As I can tell, Mesa County and every other county can do its election in a way that they have in the past and works.”
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Murder suspect arrested in Grand Junction
Federal and local law enforcement officials arrested a man Wednesday in Grand Junction in connection with a murder in Las Vegas a year ago.
Officials arrested David Robert Thomson, 37, after FBI officials found him working at a Grand Junction car dealership.
Thomson was being sought by the FBI in connection with the slaying of a woman that officials said Thompson met in Las Vegas. The woman died after suffering gunshot wounds.
FBI Agent John Piantanesi saw Thomson working at the car dealership and at a residence in Grand Junction on several occasions before officers arrested him Wednesday, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada.
The arrest was made with the help of the US. Postal Service inspector’s office and the criminal-investigations division of the Internal Revenue Service, FBI Special Agent Jane Quimby said.
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Palisade sex assault
At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday a woman contacted Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputies regarding a sexual assault that occurred in the 3500 block of Front Street in Palisade, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department.
The woman “claims to have been sexually assaulted by two unknown persons,” deputies said.
The case remains under investigation, deputies said.
Man Tasered, jailed
A 19-year-old man was taken off to the Mesa County Jail early this morning, but not before he put up a fight with deputies resulting in him being Tasered.
Daniel Burrows was arrested at 3:30 a.m. in the 500 block of Garfield Drive for suspicion of “various drug charges,” child abuse, assault on a peace officer, obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, deputies said.
“Daniel was Tased due to being uncooperative with deputies on scene,” deputies said. “Daniel continued to be uncooperative upon arrival at the jail.”
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County moves to block De Beque annexations
Mesa County is preparing to take some stern steps in order to halt one of De Beque’s recent annexations.
The Mesa County Commission is expressing concern that De Beque is annexing land with no clear plan other than to annex and then rezone.
“We have statutory authority to contest the annexation,” Lyle Dechant, Mesa County attorney told the commission Wednesday.
Dechant and Christie Barton, from the county’s land use and development department, travelled to De Beque Monday and filed written requests for information regarding De Beque’s last annexation — a 25-acre parcel on the north side of Interstate 70 at T Road.
The land was annexed on the contingency that it would be rezoned industrial, as was the sale of the land to the Sunland Construction, according to a Jan. 14 letter from Sunland’s attorney to the town of De Beque.
The De Beque Town Board of Trustees unanimously approved the annexation March 10.
The annexation does not become official until 30 days after it has been published in a paper of general circulation.
“We have 30 days after the effective date of annexation to file a motion for reconsideration,” Dechant said. “We have to spell out in detail what we think was wrong.”
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Monumental day at Monument
The Colorado National Monument is back in business for the tourist season, with officials staffing both entries, Superintendent Joan Anzelmo said.
“We’re now operating seven days a week,” Anzelmo said. “Everyone needs to stop at the sign” and check in.
Officials already have noticed tourists visiting the monument, she said.
“We’re already starting to see some long-distance (car) plates.”
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