Frack well site adjacent to public school playground

Open Letter to Governor Jared Polis and Director Robbins,

My name is Patricia Nelson, I am a resident of Greeley, Colorado and a mother of a student at Bella Romero Academy. On Monday, November 25, 2019, around 12:00 pm, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment sent out a press release reporting that an elevated level of benzene had been measured by the CDPHE’s mobile lab located at Bella Romero’s 4-8 grade campus.

The spike in the levels of benzene was measured at 3:50 pm on Tuesday, November 5, a school day. Pick up time is 3:45 pm. Keep in mind that those ‘safe’ levels of exposure – 9ppb – are typically intended for adults, this means that a chemical exposure would be even more dangerous for these children running out of the building after the bell rang.

The mobile lab also measures 12 ft. in the air. On such a cold November day, it is likely the benzene would have been more concentrated closer to the ground where the children actually are. I was made aware of this incident not by CDPHE, nor school officials, but by a reporter inquiring about the findings.

We have been told time and time again by your COGCC commissioners, your administration, and the operator that this kind of site is safe, that there is nothing to worry about. However, the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and dozens of peer-reviewed studies, have said otherwise.

Just in case you need more clarity, there are NO safe levels of exposure to benzene, and now your own agency confirms that the children of Bella Romero have been exposed to this carcinogen. The school officials I met with were under the impression that there would be no activity at the site while the children were in school. For the last two years that has been proven to be a lie.

I am writing to you today to ask that there is an immediate stop to Extraction Oil and Gas’s operation that is located a mere 1,200 ft from the front door of my child’s school.

Governor Polis, you appointed the commission and as the Director of the COGCC, Mr. Robbins, you are not only responsible for the approval of the permits but you are also responsible for the protection of public health and safety from oil and gas operations. A full 21 days passed before we were notified of the exposure. Meanwhile, the families of Bella Romero were dealing with children complaining of headaches and nausea. The same symptoms the recent CDPHE health study said would come from benzene exposure from oil and gas activity.

In some cases, our children stayed home from school due to their symptoms. It would be negligent, in fact, willful and wanton conduct, for you to allow continued oil and gas operations at this site until you can be certain that no further benzene exposure will occur. We as Coloradans still do not have the “basic guarantee” of our safety.

This site has been the center of controversy since its permits were approved in March 2017. This site was not supposed to be here, it was slated to be installed behind a more affluent school in Greeley, Frontier Academy. The Frontier parents were organized by Weld Air & Water, a group of mineral rights owners who were concerned by the proximity to the school.

Extraction Oil & Gas (XOG) later decided that the site was “not ideal for oil and gas operations.” They then went on to prey on a more vulnerable community. The demographics of our community made it easy for XOG to come in and set up shop without a fight. Most of the students at Bella Romero are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The majority of our students are Latinx, refugees, and children of mixed-status parents.

Greeley parents, teachers and community groups have done everything we can to try and stop this site after it was moved to Bella Romero. We sued over the approval of the permits, we have repeatedly protested and pleaded with the COGCC to stop this site.

The 24 wells were featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The New York Times even wrote a feature story on the audacity of the project. The world is watching.

In the Spring of 2018, you visited our school, Governor Polis, and spoke with me personally. You said that parents like me shouldn’t have to worry about their children’s safety when it came to oil and gas, you all but said this kind of thing wouldn’t happen if you were elected Governor.

Your surrogates later went on to announce at the Weld County County Assembly that you were the only gubernatorial candidate that stood with the families of Bella Romero. We have heard nothing from you or your administration since.

I am lucky to have the ability to take a day off from work and stay at the Capitol until 2 am to testify – a job that I have almost lost because all of the time I have had to take off to attempt to protect my child from precisely what happened on November 5th. I shouldn’t have to do that. I am a mother. My biggest concern should be how my child doing in math and reading.

There are short term effects and there are long term effects that will result from this. We have heard this story before, it is not new. Considering the climate platform and “be bold” motto that you choose for your election platform, I would hope you would have the foresight and awareness to address this issue head-on and prevent further harm to these children.

Put an immediate stop to Extraction Oil and Gas’s operation behind my child’s school. This risk as it stands now is unacceptable. I encourage you both to visit the site, it has changed drastically since the last time you were here Governor Polis.

Respectfully, Patricia Nelson, Greeley, CO

Supporting organizations: Adams County Communities for Drilling Accountability NOW (ACCDAN), Broomfield Active Moms Community, Broomfield Concerned: A Coalition of Neighborhoods, Broomfield CAN, Be the Change – USA, Climate Justice Ministry at Foothills Unitarian, Colorado Rising, Erie Protectors, Food & Water Action, Front Range Residents for Environment, Safety, and Health (FRRESH), Larimer Alliance for Health Safety & the Environment, The Lookout Alliance, Mothers Out Front – Colorado, North Range Concerned Citizens, Our Health Our Future Our Longmont, Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado, Wall of Women Colorado – WOW, Weld Air and Water, WildEarth Guardians, and 350 Colorado

Purple Hayes Gas Well in Eastern Ohio

Ohio Drillers Setting Utica Shale Production Records — Amount of Utica Shale Acreage  Increasing

From an Article by Casey Junkins, Wetzel Chronicle, May 17, 2017

St. Clairsville, Ohio — Eclipse Resources officials left a “Purple Hayes” with their 3.5-mile-long horizontal well last year, but their “Great Scott” operation now stretches almost 1,000 feet farther into the Utica Shale beneath in Guernsey County in eastern Ohio.

As Eclipse drills deeper and farther into the shale, fellow operators Gulfport Energy and Rice Energy continue increasing production and adding new acreage for future fracking.

“In the Utica condensate area, I am extremely happy to announce that we successfully drilled what we believe is the world’s longest onshore lateral ever drilled with a total measured depth of 27,400 feet and completable lateral extension of 19,300 feet, almost 1,000 feet longer than the previous record held by our ‘Purple Hayes’ well,” Eclipse Chairman, President and CEO Benjamin W. Hulburt said.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Great Scott well is located in Guernsey County, west of Barnesville and south of Cambridge. Industry leaders consider condensate as light form of crude oil.

Eclipse, which also has operations in Belmont and Monroe counties, is benefiting from the recovery in the industry. The company posted net income of $26.8 million for the first three months of this year, which compares to a net loss of $45.5 million during the same time period in 2016.

“This was another tremendous quarter for us as we continued our track record of exceeding production expectations, while expanding our operating margin by keeping our per unit operating expenses and our general and administrative expenses low,” Hulburt added.

Gulfport Energy, meanwhile, grew production to 849.6 million cubic feet per day in the first three months of this year, a 23 percent increase from the first quarter of 2016. The company maintains substantial operations in Belmont, Monroe and Harrison counties.

“We are extremely pleased with the results from these new wells and would expect both of the wells to rank among the top wells completed in the play to date,” Gulfport CEO and President Michael Moore said of the company’s new operations.

Rice Energy, featuring numerous wells in Belmont County, recently set a new company-best mark by drilling 6,170 feet during a 24-hour period, a 15 percent improvement from its previous mark.

The firm averaged 1.27 billion cubic feet of natural gas production in the first three months of this year, which is an 11 percent increase from the 2016 period. The company hopes to reach 2 Bcf per day by 2019.

“Looking ahead, we are focused on generating best-in-class exploration and production results to achieve our three-year exploration and production targeted growth outlook,” Rice CEO Daniel Rice IV said.

Data provided by ODNR show Buckeye State drillers and frackers pumped 1.37 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2016, a new record that shatters the previous year’s mark of 955.6 billion cubic feet. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to provide power to about 24,315 homes for one year.

See also: Eleven ‘Super-Lateral’ Wells for East Ohio

Off Gases in Deep Valley Near Residences

WV-DEP issues air quality Notice of Violation to Jay-Bee Oil & Gas

Public Announcement from WV DEP via Email, March 2, 2014

The WV Department of Environmental Protection — Division of Air Quality has issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Jay-Bee Oil & Gas Inc. for operating storage tanks on its Lisby Well Pad without the proper permits.

The natural gas drilling site is located in the Big Run area of Tyler County and the Lisby Pad includes four Marcellus wells that are in the initial production phase. Because six storage tanks at the site are used to collect natural gas liquids and can produce vapors, air quality permits are required.

The NOV, issued late Tuesday, requires Jay-Bee to provide dates when the tanks were installed and when each was put into operation; the amount of natural gas liquids produced at the site from commencement of operations until present; the potential emissions from all other sites not permitted by the DAQ; and a detailed explanation of the remedial measures taken to address the causes of non-compliance.

Inspectors from the WV-DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas and Division of Air Quality were dispatched to the Lisby Pad early Friday after receiving a complaint of a strong odor late the night before. The inspectors determined the likely cause of the odor was a nighttime inversion created by atmospheric conditions that trapped the gas vapors coming from the tanks. The WV-DEP worked with the operator to implement measures to decrease emissions. Also, the operator plans to implement a secondary recovery system on the tanks to capture the gas vapors.

The WV-DEP continues to monitor the situation and requested assistance from the agency’s Emergency Response section to monitor air quality at the site. The air monitoring equipment, which indicates the presence of volatile organics, detected no dangerous levels. Air monitoring equipment on site and mobile equipment operated by local emergency officials also detected no explosive levels – even last Thursday night when the odor was at its strongest.

To view the official order letter,  click here .

Contact: Kelley Gillenwater, WV-DEP, Charleston, WV