1. Parachute Creek toxic spill worsens
Six months after a Williams Co. spill that contaminated Parachute Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River, with cancer-causing benzene, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) data showed that benzene levels jumped more than 65 percent and exceeded both federal drinking water standards and state standards designed to protect aquatic wildlife. Nearby groundwater levels remain much higher. According to The Denver Post, tons of soil contaminated by the spill are being shipped to Utah
2. If oil and gas regulators represent industry, who represents citizens?
COGCC Director, Matt Lepore
In comments eerily represent of former Wyoming Oil and Gas Supervisor Tom Doll’s, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director Matt Lepore dismissed residents concerned about increasing health problems and plummeting home values due to fracking chemical contamination as “affluent” and thus out of touch. Lepore made the comments at an energy industry summit.
Last year, Doll said Wyoming residents were motivated by “greed and desire for compensation” not concern about Pavilion-area groundwater contamination from fracking. Doll resigned after a public outcry and Governor Matt Mead distanced himself from the controversial comments. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has consistently stood as a friend and ally of the oil and gas industry. It’s time that Governor Hickenlooper an advocate for the people who elected him by denouncing Lepore’s comments.
3. BLM says its New Mexico leasing sale plan “insufficient,” sells land anyway
Despite offering oil and gas leases under a 30-year old plan that does not address oil and gas development, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sold 1,166 acres on five parcels of land in New Mexico’s Otero County. [ed. note – linked article is behind a paywall] In May, groups such as the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and The Wilderness Society protested the sale because BLM was relying on analysis from 1986 when the oil and gas industry had less interest. BLM said it knew its 1986 analysis was “insufficient for the management of the resource” and added a 2004 amendment that was later struck down by a federal court for failing to consider environmental impacts, especially to the Salt Basin aquifer. BLM said: “a careful vetting process … found no resource conflicts” to prohibit the sales.
4. “Four Stops, One Destination” Tour demonstrates need to put national parks on equal ground with energy development
Continuing its “Four Stops, One Destination” tour to encourage more Latinos to visit and protect national parks, Hispanic Access Foundation President Maite Arce and her family visited Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado. The family’s video blog features beautiful views from a guided river tour the family joined. After the trip, Maite’s son Luke discussed with Arce the need to preserve and protect parks and rivers from oil rigs and development. Telemundo featured the family’s tour this week.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO2-kjOa-44&w=560&h=315]
5. Jewell’s defends need for strong fracking rule, oversight of oil and gas comapnies
Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who marks her 100th day in office tomorrow, defended proposed fracking regulations against fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers and industry groups at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing. Pointing to varying levels of standards among the states, Jewell said minimum standards are needed on federal and Indian lands but said federal regulators would defer to states and tribes if they have strong oversight.
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