NEW DRILLING RULES CONSIDERED
DENVER (AP) – Gov. John Hickenlooper says the state is looking at new initiatives to create “integrity and trust” in oil and natural gas development in Colorado. Speaking at the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Denver, Hickenlooper listed four areas that the state is looking to include in existing rules or to add.
Hickenlooper says those areas are: enhanced testing to assure well-bore integrity; comprehensive water sampling before a well is drilled; controlling fugitive methane emissions from wells; and determining how far wells must be from structures in densely populated areas.
DRILLING ACCIDENT KILLS ONE
FORT LUPTON, Colo. (AP) – Authorities say one person is dead and three others have minor injuries after a rupture at a natural gas well north of Fort Lupton. Weld County sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Schwartz says pressure apparently caused one or more pieces of equipment to break loose Wednesday afternoon. Schwartz says there was no fire. Encana Corp., which operates the well, characterizes the incident as a high-pressure gas release. The company says the cause hasn’t been determined. Encana says the three injured workers were taken to a Greeley hospital.
No names have been released. Schwartz says the person who died was a 60-year-old man.
CARBON EMISSIONS PROJECT
DENVER (AP) – A coalition of public and private agencies are planning to unveil test results of a program to store carbon from power plants and industrial sources. The Rocky Mountain Carbon Capture and Sequestration Partnership has spent several months drilling in northwest Colorado to determine the potential to store more than 4 billion tons of carbon. The project team plans to display core samples from more than 9,000 feet deep on Thursday.
Scientists are seeking ways to store carbon waste to reduce what some believe is a major contributor to climate change.
RECORD POT BUST
PUEBLO (AP) – Pueblo County authorities say they recovered more than 7,000 marijuana plants during one of the largest pot busts in county history. Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor says he believes the marijuana farm was cultivated by Mexican drug cartels. Two men were arrested when they tried to flee during a raid on Wednesday.
