Day 239

...and a Terminally Defunct COGCC Continues to
 Obstruct its Own Investigation....

Since Week 69 we now know that drilling activities initiated after the lifting of the moratorium have adversely impacted West Divide Creek and allowed produced formation gas to communicate with the shallow ground water -- again.

...and yet the COGCC still refuses to sample the ground water in the area of the 2008 seep site - all this despite a large area of vegetation die-off (suggestive of methane seep) and persistent iron-reducing bacteria near the beaver house (also where the paralyzed frog was found). The COGCC stull refuses to conduct simple soil/gas analysis - despite a new and vast area of grass die-off emanating form the Schwartz pad reported 12-12-08. The COGCC also refuses to sample the flammable gas accumulating in the creek bed (also where the frog was found).

Probable Reason:  The COGCC doesn't want to know what's really occurring in this geology with the kinds of drilling procedures they are allowing without adequate oversight.

Whatever the reason...

Long reigns the mantle of carefully structured and preserved ignorance (and the policies and politicians that benefit those that further it).

Two other EnCana drilling events: one in November 2008, one in January 2009 have also occurred on the same pad site (Brown/EnCana) which have implications for ground water contamination, but the COGCC and EnCana remain silent.

When EnCana, groundwater and the COGCC collide.... landowners become collateral damage. Despite there being a very strong likelihood of aquifer contamination by either drilling fluids, natural gas, acidified cement or all three, no water testing was ever conducted subsequent to either of these events - nor were residents even informed.

1. On November 7, 2008, COGCC staff approved Form 2 (Application for Permit-to-Drill) for the EnCana 11-6 (F11E) well, located in the SE¼ of the NW¼ of Section 11, Township 7 South, Range 92 West, 6th P.M. This well is located in the “East Mamm Creek Area,” as defined in the Notice to Operators Drilling Mesaverde Group or Deeper Wells in the Mamm Creek Field Area in Garfield County, Well Cementing Procedure and Reporting Requirements, dated July 23, 2004, revised February 9, 2007.

The approved surface casing setting depth of 1,000 feet exceeded the minimum requirement of 933 feet (15 percent of total depth in the East Mamm Creek Area). The proposed total measured depth for the EnCana 11-6 (F11E) well was 6,219 feet.

2. On October 24, 2008, COGCC staff approved Form 2 (Application for Permit-to-Drill) for the EnCana Federal 11-11A (F11E) well, located in the SE¼ of the NW¼ of Section 11, Township 7 South, Range 92 West, 6th P.M. This well is located in the “East Mamm Creek Area,” as defined in the Notice to Operators Drilling Mesaverde Group or Deeper Wells in the Mamm Creek Field Area in Garfield County, Well Cementing Procedure and Reporting Requirements, dated July 23, 2004, revised February 9, 2007. The approved surface casing setting depth of 1,000 feet exceeded the minimum requirement of 937 feet (15 percent of total depth in the East Mamm Creek Area). The proposed total measured depth for the EnCana Federal 11-11A (F11E) well was 6,247 feet.

On January 7, 2009, EnCana Oil & Gas USA, Inc. (“EnCana”) commenced running surface casing on the EnCana Federal 11-11A (F11E) well. EnCana ran casing into the hole to a depth of 976 feet. EnCana continued to wash the casing down to a depth of 1,023 feet, where the hole packed off, and circulation was lost. Despite attempts to work the casing, the casing could not be rotated or reciprocated.

EnCana pumped the surface casing cement job. The plug was bumped, the float held, and partial returns were established, but cement did not circulate to surface. The cement top was verified at 900 feet on a cement bond log (“CBL”). EnCana perforated and squeezed cement at 700 feet to 702 feet. Partial returns were established, but cement did not circulate to surface.

While circulating cement on the production casing, the annular hydrostatic pressure was lowered sufficiently to induce a gas kick, which jeopardized the production casing cement bond. The gas kick pressured up the production casing/ intermediate casing annulus, and pressure was also observed in the intermediate casing/surface casing annulus. The top of gas was at a depth of 3,977 feet, and the intermediate casing shoe was at a depth of 3,522 feet. EnCana perforated the production casing above the  top of cement at 3,727 and squeezed cement to kill the gas kick. The flare died immediately upon pumping into the perforations, and the pressure on the production casing/ intermediate casing annulus was eliminated.

Missing and Incomplete Reports

We Got Some New Heroes!

These first four are good ol' dogs that should have been listed a log time ago.
We need them now more than ever.

Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA Goddard Center

Weston Wilson, EPA engineer (and Frac Fluid/ Safe Drinking
     Water Act study whistleblower)

Ralph Nadar, Citizen Advocate

Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring

These two are Texas lawmakers kickin' ass and taking names (see week 74).

Lon Burnam

Wendy Davis

And then there's Rahall - introducing long-needed legislation at the federal level

Nick Rahall, Congressman - West Virginia
For his introductionof needed federal legislation:
"The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009" (H.R. 699)
http://www.worc.org/userfiles/file/Hardrock-Mining-and-Reclamation-Act-factsheet%2001-27-08.pdf

Here are the H.R. 699 cosponsors

Rep. Berman, Howard L.
Rep. Blumenauer, Earl
Rep. Capps, Lois
Rep. Christensen, Donna M.
Rep. Costa, Jim
Rep. DeGette, Diana
Rep. Eshoo, Anna G.
Rep. Grijalva, Raul M.
Rep. Hinchey, Maurice D.
Rep. Holt, Rush D.
Rep. Honda, Michael M.
Rep. Kennedy, Patrick J.
Rep. Kildee, Dale E.
Rep. Kind, Ron
Rep. Markey, Edward J.
Rep. Miller, George
Rep. Salazar, John T.
Rep. Schiff, Adam B.
Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete 
Rep. Tsongas, Niki
Rep. Waxman, Henry A.
 

Tonight (Monday, 7pm) on Larry King Live....

Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens. Al has long been a Champion for the environment and balanced energy; and T. Boone is a billionaire Texas oil man on a mission to create a larger market for natural gas through gas-powered automotive engines. 

What I see here is an entrepreneurial strategy to maneuver Al Gore into the position of an environmental mouthpiece useful in advancing a developing political agenda which will lead to greater natural gas profits as oil field returns diminish.

The oil and gas industry knows it is up against changing public perception as our civilization moves toward a more environmentally aware state of being and develops energy resources to match our evolving ethos.

The industry knows that the Obama administration may make it more challenging for them to continue in their long-established archaic and polluting manner.

The fossil fuel industry's solution - as touted in industry journals across the globe - is to organize a concerted legislative effort to create demand where none currently exits, built around "need" secured through policy and supported by the public perception that natural gas is "clean".

Pickens may talk some about wind farms too, but that's not really where the money is. Plus, wind farms are fraught with their own problems: bird migration deaths; micro-climatic drought where they are erected; and low-frequency emissions which make people and wildlife sick.

Tonight I'll watch this episode to see what kind of 'partnership' may be emerging between the two. I am not at all sure that it will represent the best that "consciousness and capital" has to offer.

Al might be the next Champion swatted off the list, but I sure hope not. We need him to continue to advocate for the best of the best and see the strings that may be acting to pull him in one direction or another.

There are a lot of folks out there that would be willing to parrot for the industry; but admittedly, maybe not with the credibility and therefore powerful perception leverage that Al represents.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post-show commentary:

For whatever reason, Al Gore did not appear on the show. While I had hoped for meaningful discourse on the evolution of energy in America, the segment essentially turned out to be a 7-minute promotion for proposed legislation buried in innuendo and a well-scripted framework of spin. Only in the last few minutes, after setting the stage for America's energy's needs did the big hammer of natural gas come down, almost as if by happenstance recall. This was just a tiny primer, many of which will be forthcoming as industry lays the groundwork preparing America for the perception it needs in place prior to securing federal policy to further development of this resource.

I'm awful heartened though, that Pickens, by his own assertion, isn't in this for political reasons - only for the American people. I guess his months-long campaign aimed directly at Washington leadership both at the Whitehouse and in congress, together with sponsoring an energy summit was only by accident. 

He is exactly right that America's national security depends upon the development of our own energy resources (protectionism rears its ugly head again - but I wonder if Republicans recognize it?). However, we must balance and maintain all of our vital interests, resisting the exploitation of one above another - particularly when air, water, and sustainable food production are in a higher class all by themselves.

For those of you interested, keep your antenna tuned to future developments which strengthen the increasingly co-dependent sectors of fossil fuel extraction, agri-business and pharmaceuticals. Natural gas is the new, albeit invisible oil. Over a hundred years ago oil became the resource to exploit and billions were made from it by those in a position to market not only the resource, but invest in the infrastructure necessary to bring it to full fruition. So, not one but two industrial sectors were strengthened - not to mention the infrastructure built to sustain dependence. Billions just waiting to be sown and grown in the thick rich crude.

With oil fields on the decline and vast reserves of frac'able fields waiting for the vast application of capital investment in the way of natural gas drilling rigs to reap reward, you are going to see the development of a primary natural gas industry; a secondary infrastructure system for its delivery, a tertiary public water recovery/treatment and delivery system and a fourth infrastructure in the way of manufacturing plants, heating and automobiles in order to sustain demand - and all of this will be good for the next 40 years or so, so long as the planet holds out. If you value wads of cash, get in now on the ground floor before it's frac'd out from under you. If you value breathing, stand up for what's right.

It's not about having a crystal ball. It's about seeing what's right in front of us. There's a balance, we simply have to have the will to pursue it.

For now, however, Al Gore stays.
 

And, We Got Some More Frac'd:
Joining the Consortium this week....

Bainbridge Ohio: From the record....

"Finally, the third and most critical contributing factor leading to the incident was the 31 day period after the stimulation during which the annular space between the surface and production casings was mostly shut in. This confined the deep, high-pressure gas from "Newburg" and/or "Clinton" within this restricted space. Readings taken during this time were consistently 320 psi or greater. Typically, shallow shale gas does not register more than 30-50 psi on the annulus and can be closed in or vented without problem. Pressures of the order that were observed would indicate a deeper source of the gas present in the annulus. This was not recognized and OVESC personnel opened the valve to blow off the pressure but continued to close the annulus when not on site. As pressure on the annulus built up, the gas migrated laterally and vertically through natural fractures in the surrounding bedrock. This overpressurized gas infiltrated the local aquifers, discharged through local water wells, allowing gas to enter some area homes in varying concentrations, and resulting in the explosion at one home.

Parachute, Colorado: From the record....

"Despite intensive efforts, investigators have yet to find the exact source of oil and gas operations that contaminated a spring northwest of Parachute, causing a man to become ill last May."

....

"Prather suffered irritation to his throat, esophagus and stomach when he visited his cabin and drank water tainted with cancer-causing benzene May 30."

....

"Tests results also showed benzene in a second spring in the area. That led to OXY USA WTP LP being cited as a suspected source of the second spring’s contamination."

.....

"The state found a dead elk calf in the area examined, but it turned out to have died of natural causes. Prather has found other dead animals such as chipmunks that he thinks may have consumed the spring water. The state has declined to have them tested because the water’s contamination levels aren’t considered sufficient to be toxic to animals."

Fort Morgan "Field", Colorado: From the record....

"Two nearby residences remain evacuated; residence H100 located approximately 1,000 feet east of the compressor facility, and residence H101 located approximately 1,400 feet southeast of the facility."

.....

"CIG has collected samples from over 50 domestic water wells within a 3-mile radius of Well #26. Residence H100 is the only domestic water well where dissolved methane was detected at concentrations greater than 2 milligrams per liter (mg/l), which is a theoretical threshold concentration at which there exists a potential for methane to accumulate to potentially explosive levels in unventilated areas. Methane was detected in the samples collected on February 20, March 23, May 15, June 21, and July 19, 2007, at concentrations of 19 mg/l, 26 mg/l, 9.9 mg/l, 23 mg/l and 21 mg/l, respectively. Benzene was also detected in the sample collected from the water well at residence H100 on February 20, May 15, and June 21, 2007, at a concentration of 2.0 micrograms per liter (μg/l), 2.7 μg/l, and 3.0 μg/l, respectively."

A Huerfano County, Colorado Update from the February 2009 COGCC staff report, which in part reads:

"During the period from December 15, 2008, to January 22, 2009, NAH and PEI screened 73 domestic water wells for the presence of methane with hand held methane detectors for changes in percent volume of methane, %LEL, and %O2; 51 of the monitored wells showed little change from the previous month’s monitoring, 6 wells showed increases in methane concentration, 16 wells showed decreases in methane concentration."

A Trinidad, Colorado Update From Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission August 2007 Staff Report:

Work in Progress Additions

This site is a work in progress and since last week I've tweaked out the Cover Your Ass guide and the Frac Page / Frac Modeling pages a little.

I forgot to mention what to have tested in soils sampling in the guide, and in the frac primer / modeling pages I added a kind of nutshell geology aspect. I'm noting them here, so you don' have to go hunting for them.

Guide:

"A note on soils testing. In our case, in the ongoing 2008 seep situation, the soils where the black gunk was seeping were sampled by the COGCC. This seems like a good thing right? Of course, except that they didn't sample for BTEX or napthalenes. In other states this is common practice. So make sure if samples are taken they are at least tested for DRO (diesel range organics); GRO (gasoline range organics); BTEX, methane and napthalenes. Ask that both the wet (liquid component of wet soil) and dry matrix (soil) is tested."

Also added (02-28-09)

"PS - if you're lucky enough to read this before you get frac'd, here are four things you need to do before an oil and gas company moves in. 1) Photograph / video every inch of your property. 2) Conduct baseline water and air tests (air in your home as well, since migrating natural gas can move into a home through the foundation). 3) Note the health of the vegetation and wildlife species if any. 4) Get a current appraisal - if things go badly, chances are your home value will reflect it, and this could be a tool to use in negotiating a settlement for damages. Don't count on the value of your neighbor's home - these things tend to affect entire communities."

Frac Modeling:

"You might ask, "What's the big deal if the geology gets messed up way underground?" Well, the problem is that these explosions cause seismic pulses to travel primarily along existing fault paths, extending the energy from that pulse into the formation in the way of new faults - small or otherwise. It also creates some new pathways. This seismic activity causes the underlying rock layers to slip and shift creating more faults - and possibly sealing others in a process that is often grossly underestimated. Introducing extreme hydraulic frac pressure (enough to counter the weight of the compressed rock formation and existing pressures from gas and water) only intensifies this effect. These activities combined with the interception of pressurized gas pockets creates even more disturbance - much of which is unpredictable due to the irregularities and fluidity of tight sand formations as well as the inability to predict pressure. Now, couple all of this with depressurization that occurs as gas (and water by as much as 1-5 million gallons) is tapped off the formation and collected up the well bore. Much greater shifts and instability arise, compounded by subsequent frac jobs that can lead to greater formation failure. Big time pressure encounters (gas kicks ad over pressurized water as they exit the wellbore) can really put the whammy on the formation. To summarize: Both instant and continued degradation of the formation occurs over time affected by numerous primary factors: 1) the nature of the rock (faults, fissures, caverns, slip zones and other instability) 2) initial artificial seismic and hydraulic stimulation of the rock (fracing) 3) frac disruptions causing the formation to respond with its own seismic reactions leading to even more highly unpredictable instability in a round-robin cascade effect  4) encounters of pressurized and over-pressurized gas and/or water (gas kicks, light or heavy) 5) depressurization of the formation as gas and water are produced and, 6) artificial re-stimulation of the formation through repeated seismic and hydraulic stimulation of the rock (for each stimulation, factors 1, 3, 4 and 5 are compounded).

Now, introduce fresh water aquifers and underground springs into the equation and you have a recipe for environmental disaster.

To make things even worse, let's toss extreme down-hole density into the mix - and now you have this level of geologic degradation going on every ten acres underground.

Unfortunately, all of this underground interplay makes predictability a pipe dream and can produce effects that are made worse over time. Some adverse effects may show up relatively immediately, but some may not manifest until the well is long into its lifespan or perhaps after."

The Perils of Fracing

Read up on Weston Wilson - EPA whisleblower re: EPA frac safety report. The Union of Concerned Scientists has a great citation section so you can find Wilson's comments to congress as well as EPA study, etc. good stuff.

Divide Creek Seep 2008 -Page 9

I finally got a few minutes to post two photos I took of the ground just across the road from the Schwartz. Both photos are from an area adjacent to one another and divided by another road. One area shows dead ground, the other shows healthy vegetation. I still cannot believe the COGCC puts all its argument behind the false assumption that the dead ground is simply suffering from a lack of irrigation. None of the ground in this area has ever been irrigated except for the ground shown in the photographs (irrigated for one summer season about ten years ago). The COGCC refuses to sample the soil for methane and refuses to believe photographic evidence. Geeze Louise. Anyway, you can see the photos from December 2008 about mid way down the page.

If you have him, return him
 

Photo by: Ben Wittick - 1885 [I have manipulated the image to show only Geronimo's face]

A recently discovered letter from club members appears to describe the theft of the skull and other bones from the gravesite in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The document implicates former President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush as a member of the group that conducted the theft.

Some reports have said the theft which allegedly occurred around the time of World War I, should be viewed within a historical context - that is, that a bunch of ivy leaguers stationed at Fort Sill thought it might be 'cool', following Geronimo's eventual surrender to the Army,  to rob the grave and bring the remains back the secret society to be included in ritualistic ceremony - a perpetual presidance of victory over the vanquished by a parade of annually inducted imitators.

But my grandfather - a Yale/Harvard boy himself of that era - recognized no sense of empowerment in such a rite. It is not a matter of youth nor class nor race.

There is no historical appreciation for such an act. Human beings for millennia have recognized the consecration of gravesites and ancestral remains. It takes a special kind of arrogance to perpetrate an act such as this. Of course, such arrogance has shown itself to persist in the Bush lineage. Now, the son of the son of the father - and the rest of our nation - bears the curse of Geronimo's dark eyes - one of the fiercest warriors to ever face an overwhelming tide of persecution. 

Native American prophecy foretells the rise of the 'red' race in the forth dawning.

We are nearing the end of the third.

Though the tale of the skull within the society has long been legend, folks familiar with the society have said the skull has always been referred to as "Geronimo". The letter seems to validate the believe that Geronimo's remains are in the possession of the society.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/geronimos-descendants-sue_n_168082.html

-- attributed to Chief Seattle, Treaty Oration, 1854

In The News.... 

Note: I always try to provide links where I can, but it doesn't always work out. If you submit a story, please try to include the link so folks can easily check it out.

Report Finds Barnett Shale Emissions Contributing to DFW Smog: Recommendations for cost-effective controls could improve Metroplex air quality

http://www.edf.org/pressrelease.cfm?contentID=9237  (Press Release re: report)
http://www.edf.org/documents/9235_Barnett_Shale_Report.pdf  (Report)

My thanks to 'Recon Don' for this report, from the Environmental Defense Fund www.edf.org

From the Press Release:
 

This article discusses efforts by two big-time oil and gas industry advocates (Penry and Meis) to conduct a public forum on energy development in Mesa County.

To their credit, this is a pretty neat way to get folks engaged, it's just kind of a bummer that the big slant was toward industry and a bit of a pulpit for propaganda. This is the kind of thing a lot of activist organizations will do to rally support for legislation, etc., and it's pretty crafty for Commissioners to bring this tactic into the public's political  forum.

Sadly, the message continues to be that new common sense oil ad gas rules (toothless as they are) are curtailing intense oil and gas development. These two continue to parrot this sad spin even though industry itself has begun to finally admit that it is due to the global economic slowdown... tied to a glut of supply, thanks to their unbalanced extraction practices, and even tied to steel worker layoffs and the inability to manufacture pipelines that is leveling out their sector growth.

Drilling slowdown talk of town in Mesa County phone-in meeting

By MIKE WIGGINS / Saturday, February 21, 2009 / Grand Junction Sentinel
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/02/21/022209_3A_telephone_town_hall.html

Excerpts from the article follow:

"More than 1,000 Mesa County residents participated Saturday in a telephone town-hall meeting that focused on the slump in natural gas drilling on the Western Slope.

The hour-long meeting also featured state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, taking verbal jabs at Gov. Bill Ritter over Ritter’s support of regulatory changes that would tighten drilling rules in Colorado.

The meeting was hosted by Mesa County commissioners Janet Rowland and Craig Meis. Organizers reached out to 30,000 people who were telephoned at home in the morning and given the opportunity to ask questions funneled through two screeners. People also were asked to participate in a series of polls about the energy industry."

.....

"Commissioners will provide written responses to the questions that weren’t answered on the phone and post them at www.mesacounty.us. She also said an audio file of the meeting will be posted on the Web site Monday."

The arrogant and ridiculous assumptions that levels of exposure are safe for small animals (which may now be dead) punctuates the threats that face both people and animals in an open and contaminated environment. It's also pretty telling that the state doesn't want to sample. We found dead birds, crawdads, and a rabbit last summer in the area of the 2008 seep - none of which have been necropsied. The paralyzed frg swimming in bubbles coming up in the creek? The COGCC couldn't even be bothered to look at it. Luckily I was able to rehabilitate and release it (but not before filming what it went through to recover).

Source of sickening spring seep still unknown

By DENNIS WEBB / Tuesday, February 24, 2009 / Grand Junction Sentinel

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/02/24/022509_2a_tainted_spring.html

Excerpts from the article follow:

"Despite intensive efforts, investigators have yet to find the exact source of oil and gas operations that contaminated a spring northwest of Parachute, causing a man to become ill last May."

.....

"Prather suffered irritation to his throat, esophagus and stomach when he visited his cabin and drank water tainted with cancer-causing benzene May 30.

Oil and gas regulators issued notices of alleged violation against Williams Production RMT, Marathon Oil Co., Petroleum Development Corp. and Nonsuch Natural Gas, based on the proximity of their wells to the cabin. Testing of water-monitoring wells in the area has yet to prove that any of the companies is responsible for the contamination.

Tests results also showed benzene in a second spring in the area. That led to OXY USA WTP LP being cited as a suspected source of the second spring’s contamination.

The two springs continue to be contaminated. Tests have at least led state officials to conclude the cabin spring water is tainted by oil and gas condensates. The second spring is contaminated by production water associated with drilling."

.....

"The state found a dead elk calf in the area examined, but it turned out to have died of natural causes. Prather has found other dead animals such as chipmunks that he thinks may have consumed the spring water. The state has declined to have them tested because the water’s contamination levels aren’t considered sufficient to be toxic to animals."

Problems continue to amass as we continue to await
responsible action on the part of the COGCC and EnCana.

Oh, and at the bottom of this article, the COGCC and EnCana dispute my assertion that thermogenic methane was found in the ground water. There have been 5 occurrences, two of which EnCana has negated, three of which they have ignored. Of the two negated: one of those revealed both ethane and propane together with methane in the water. Biogenic? Not so much. 

Oil, gas panel to revisit concerns about seep in water south of Silt

By DENNIS WEBB / Monday, February 23, 2009 /  Grand Junction Sentinel

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/02/23/022409_2aDivide_Creek_drilling.html

"Concerns about renewed development in the area of a 2004 natural gas seep south of Silt probably will be aired before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this spring.

Acting Director Dave Neslin said he anticipates an update with the commission on drilling in the West Divide Creek area. One purpose would be to give residents a chance to voice any concerns.

However, Neslin reiterated his belief that renewed drilling in the area would be safe."

After natural gas from an EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) well bubbled to the surface of West Divide Creek in 2004, the commission fined the company $371,200 and imposed a moratorium on drilling in the area, where underground geological faulting has contributed to drilling problems.

The commission lifted the moratorium after putting new drilling rules in place for better water protection.

"But area resident Lisa Bracken wants the moratorium imposed again in at least part of the area, and she contends the rules need to be re-examined.

Bracken and at least one neighbor, Jim Eubanks, are worried about an incident in January, when groundwater flowed from a well EnCana was drilling.

EnCana and the state say the leak originated about 1,000 feet down, well below the deepest water wells in the vicinity. It was stopped before drilling had reached the well’s gas- producing zones.

EnCana also experienced a “kick” of high gas pressure with that well and late last year with another well in the area, state officials said. But they say both situations were controlled and posed no threat to residents or water.

The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission also reports EnCana experienced a recent problem installing surface casing for another well. Surface casing is intended to protect shallow water aquifers. In the case of that well and the one that leaked water, the agency granted EnCana variances from standard requirements. EnCana said the alternative measures were adequate.

Bracken contends gas from drilling is leaking to the surface at her property. Commission staff say numerous tests show any surface methane is biological in origin.

The agency and EnCana dispute Bracken’s contention that recent tests by an EnCana consultant showed that gas from drilling has been found in groundwater monitoring wells. Commission staff say the confusion resulted from a consultant error that later was corrected, but Bracken believes that’s not the case for all the tests.

Bracken notes that differences of opinion exist about how to interpret data. Late last year, Geoffrey Thyne, a geological consultant for Garfield County, said increasing drilling south of Silt and Rifle is resulting in more gas showing up in domestic water wells, particularly in the Divide Creek area.

He said some gas that state officials are blaming on biological sources is in fact coming from drilling.

Neslin said his staff will look at Thyne’s report and that commissioner Richard Alward, a professional ecologist, will speak to Bracken.

Just when you thought the industry couldn't get any more monied or powerful.... silly you....

NATURAL GAS: Producers launch new lobbying group

The Wall Street Journal / Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Excerpts from the article follow:

“Worried by the combination of booming supplies and falling demand, natural gas companies in the United States are joining forces to get their voice heard louder in Washington and by the public.

Companies such as Newfield Exploration Co., Devon Energy Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. today will announce the formation of the American Natural Gas Alliance, which will push for more natural gas use in power generation, transportation and other fields.”

.....

The new lobbying group's leaders argue the boom in domestic gas production offers an opportunity to revamp the nation's energy policy, noting that gas burns more cleanly than coal, is produced domestically and relies on existing technology and infrastructure.

Who'd-a-thunk-it? EnCana: Corporate citizen and all around nature lover!

Pardon me while I wipe away the tears and sit myself back up
 onto my chair from laughing my ass off. Ahhh, the mirth....
You have to appreciate their wicked sense of humor, though.

EnCana donation funds school service-learning, aquatic habitat restoration, game warden training

By Texas Parks and Wildlife Department / Feb 27, 2009

http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_52420.shtml

Excerpts from the article follow:

"AUSTIN, Texas – A $486,000 donation by natural gas producer EnCana Corporation to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation will fund a new grant program to get high school students out into natural settings for service-oriented learning projects, control of giant salvinia and other invasive plants choking Toledo Bend reservoir in East Texas, and much-needed facilities for the new Texas Game Warden Training Center.

“We’re proud and pleased to be able to support these important education, conservation  and training efforts, as they’re right in line with our company philosophy,” said Paul Sander, EnCana vice president, at a recent TPW Commission meeting.

....

EnCana is one of North America’s largest independent natural gas producers. The company has a long history of supporting conservation and education causes. For the past two years EnCana has been on both the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the North American Index. Inclusion in these groups demonstrates high environmental, social and business standards.

This week, the Rocky Mountain News prints its last paper.

I raise an admiring toast to a publication that fell only days before its 150th birthday. I will miss it.

I loved its name. Its logo.  Its history. Its journalistic tradition.
But I'm a romantic and always champion the underdog, the unloved, the unprofitable.
The RMN was immeasurably lovable, but ultimately unprofitable - an iconic reflection
 upon our own inability to adapt to the forces that shape our futures.

 Here's to great run!  God save free speech....

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/27/goodbye-colorado/

From the final edition:

"Goodbye Colorado. It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to you today. Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and the world, is over. Thousands of men and women have worked at this newspaper since William Byers produced its first edition on the banks of Cherry Creek on April 23, 1859. We speak, we believe, for all of them, when we say that it has been an honor to serve you. To have reached this day, the final edition of the Rocky Mountain News, just 55 days shy of its 150th birthday is painful. We will scatter. And all that will be left are the stories we have told, captured on microfilm or in digital archives, devices unimaginable in those first days."

Smart or Stupid? My two cents for President Obama...

Something Smart

Something Stupid

Q & A with the Hill Monday 02-23-09

What an outstanding notion. I've long admired England's style of "calling out the Prime Minster", and this is right along those lines. My personal philosophy is to get all the stuff out on the table - the good, the bad and the ugly. That's the only way to craft workable solutions. Bravo for your bravery and willingness to take the heat. Please continue this tradition, I think it will help build public faith in both office and process.

Bi-Partisanship

Hang in there. Hang in there. Hold the line and keep gut checking both Democrats and Republicans. I like your line: "The majority must be inclusive, but the minority must be constructive." Also Gov. Schwarzenegger's line: "Action is in the middle." Both are good principals to work from as we head toward the non-partisan reality we must achieve before we can rebuild our country.

Expectations that you can save the economy

In the absence of transitional mechanisms to facilitate evolution, economies naturally expand and contract. Propping up failing financial ideologies and infrastructure will only frustrate investor participation and undermine free market principals. There are compelling reasons to curtail monopolies. Let the big guys fail if they must fail, so the little guys can move in and introduce new and competitive models.  What we really must examine are ways in which America and other trade nations can remain competitive and healthy without constantly shifting toward cheaper labor and resources which undermines the holistic advance of civilization.

Stimulate Small Business

Here's an idea: Instead of shoveling more money toward banks who only know how to hoard and flaunt, why not establish state-operated foundations which offer small business start-up and/or expansion grants from $1,000 to $10,000. Micro-grants have been proven to create enterprise in struggling countries - so why not here, although admittedly, a hundred bucks won't go quite so far. No one I know has ever been able to squeeze a dime out of SBA. Let's just bypass banks that can't seem to find their own ass with both hands and directly fund people serving people within American communities.
 

Halving the deficit

A bold and noble goal, eminently achievable with offsets established by the nation's economic recovery. It can be done and should be pursued. What is needed, however, is a nation of surrogates, each citizen willing to help manifest the change they wish to see. As a small-business owner, consultant and educator, as a professional solution finder and fixer, I know we can recover. And I know we can cut the deficit in half.

It will, however, require cooperation and a thoroughly intelligent plan executed en mass at every level, simultaneously. The stimulus will help get us there along with accountable oversight and needed policy revision. The rest is on us, so please inform each American how they can help on an individual level. Please continue inspiring them to invest in their own and our collective futures and please enable such pursuit through continued strong and positive leadership.

Failure is not an option. I share your ideal that we must and we will recover, becoming a stronger nation for it. The only true obstacle that stands in our way is the failure of imagination.
 

Despite the efforts of some to leverage commercial opportunity through the recovery of environmental destruction, pollution is not a business model. Cap and trade is a flawed attempt to profit from a system that unfairly targets and degrades some while endeavoring to protect others. Whom shall we value? What shall we save? I will not assume such judgment, nor would I want to find myself an expendable factor in such a wrong-spirited equation.

We need to be exploring ways to induce CO2 conversion - not sequestration or emission credits..

What's up with Holder?

I'm a believer in and defender of our Constitution, so am pretty concerned about the tone coming from the highest law enforcement office in the land. It's looking like someone is thinking he is a self-contained Supreme Court. I support both the first and second amendments and don't particularly appreciate the aggressive Democratic agenda to disassemble a Constitution already reeling from the Cheney/Bush administration.

I'll probably never vote for another Republican simply because this party so ardently defended the right of oil and gas companies to poison kids with polluted water; and if Democrats cannot find a reasonable balance in their power and choose to aggressively undermine America's individual freedoms even further - then I won't be able to vote for another Democrat either. Count me, then, among the conscientiously disenfranchised. A fierce Independent to the bitter end.... a voter without a party.

"Improvise, Adapt and Overcome"

-- Mantra and Mandate of U.S. Marines

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