Water Resources Fact Sheet Extracting fuel from shale formations requires pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to break apart rock and free the gas. Some of that water, along with large quantities of existing underground water, returns to the surface, and it can contain high levels of salt, drilling chemicals, heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive material. Drinking and irrigation water sources have been contaminated by oil and gas chemicals released through leaks and spills, naturally occurring gases and radioactive materials from disturbance of the geologic formation, and air-‐borne contaminants. Lack of Regulation The oil and gas industry, in particular hydraulic fracturing, is exempt from critical sections of the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and other laws designed to protect our water resources. State regulation of hydraulic fracturing as it relates to potential contamination of ground and surface water is limited to casing construction requirements, setbacks, disposal of oil and gas wastes (hazardous materials), and reporting of leaks and spills. Produced water needs to be disposed of and can be disposed of 6 ways in Colorado:
1. Injection into a properly permitted Class II well; 2. Evaporation/percolation in a properly permitted pit; 3. Disposal at permitted commercial facilities; 4. Disposal by roadspreading on lease roads outside sensitive areas under certain conditions; 5. Discharging into state waters, in accordance with the Water Quality Control Act and related
rules and regulations; or 6. Evaporation in a properly lined pit at a centralized E&P waste management facility permitted by
the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).1
For the fluids disposed of, the BLM states that “60 percent goes into deep and closely-‐regulated waste injection wells, 20 percent evaporates from lined pits and 20 percent is discharged as usable surface water"under permits from the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission.” 2
With all of this “deep and closely regulated” activity to protect citizens…
There were 615 spills, 271 (44%) of which were from produced water, in 2015. That equates to nearly two spills every day in Colorado. 15% of the spills resulted in water contamination, with: 44% within 50 feet of ground water, 31% within 1000 feet of surface water, 39% within 1500 feet of a water well,
and 9% within 500 feet of cows, pigs, sheep, or other livestock.3
What about radioactive material? Naturally occurring radioactive material comes up with wastewater produced from oil and gas extraction. The waste can remain radioactive for millennia. Excessive radiation exposure can increase cancer risks; radon gas, for example, has been tied to lung cancer. BLM did not analyze the risks of exposure to radioactive waste, and Colorado does not have regulations in place to manage radioactive waste from oil and gas operations.
The North Fork Valley watershed cannot afford the risk of contamination.
1 Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Rules and Regulations 300 Series Drilling, Development, Producing and Abandonment, 900 Series Exploration and Production Waste Management 2 Fracking on BLM Colorado Well Sites" BLM, Fact Sheet, March 2011. 3 Center for Western Priorities, 2015 Colorado Oil and GasToxic Release Tracker.
Water and the BLM’s Draft Resource Management Plan
Clean water is the lifeblood of the North Fork Valley. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to lease practically every acre of the North Fork to oil and gas, which would threaten our drinking and irrigation water. A Source Water Protection Plan is developed to protect a community’s drinking water source from contamination. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is required to honor community source water protection plans. The towns of Crawford, Hotchkiss, and Paonia secured source water plans, which were not taken into consideration by the BLM in its preferred alternative.
Source: The North Fork Alternative Plan In addition, the BLM also did not consider the permanent removal of water from the hydrologic cycle or that there are insufficient water supplies necessary to support fracking and other drilling operations, particularly in this period of persistent drought.
A no leasing alternative is not only reasonable, but represents the best way to protect the North Fork Valley now and in the future.
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