BRUSH - Brush is in the clear - at least for now when it comes
to whether three active oil and gas wells within the town’s
source water protection area are contaminating groundwater.

While acknowledging that work still needs to be done on the
wells, John Axelson of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission commented on Thursday that he didn’t really see
anything that would be a threat to shallow groundwater right
now.

“But I did require several corrective actions,” he said.

During Tuesday’s planning team meeting at Brush City Hall,
Axelson said he asked Coral Production Corp. of Denver to
remove some oily soil and close an old water pit near its three
wells in the area. He may also ask the company to clean some
salt deposits that could be killing vegetation near an
injection well, which Coral also owns.

Axelson said the injection well was found to have a leak in
2004, but it has since been repaired and tested for integrity.
A new test is scheduled for next year, he added.

Tim Crumley (pictured), an Akron pumping-service operator who
works with Coral Production, doubted a leak would probably
contaminate any water in the protection area.

The first 400 feet of all producing and injection wells are
surrounded by cement casings, he said, which capture any
substances that may leak from the main well lines.

“The lead in 2004 should not have gotten through this surface
casing and into your aquifer,” he said.

Crumley also explained to town officials that the casings are
subjected to manual integrity tests every five years to
determine whether they can withhold pressure.

The three producing wells in the area generate oil, water and
gas. The fluids are carried through a flow line to a separator
vessel, he said, where the oil is removed from the water.

A holding pit near the tank will catch any water that may
spill, Crumley added, although “nothing has been discharged
into that pit for years.”

The water in the tank would be safe for livestock to drink, but
not humans.

COGCC’s Axelson said the commission probably would not issue a
permit for such a pit in 2008, but Coral Production received
its permit prior to water protection boundaries being
established.

Axelson believes the most likely source of contamination would
be an unattended leak in the flow line for an extended period
of time. However, he said, the relatively small amount of fluid
moving through the lines does not pose a serious threat of
contaminating the groundwater.

“That’s probably not likely to happen at the volumes you’re
pumping,” he said.

A town steering team discussed the techniques that should be
used to educate landowners in the area about groundwater
protection. Participants agreed that information about
hazardous materials should be hand-delivered to the landowners
within the boundaries.

The group will urge Coral Production to continue sharing
information about oil and gas production in the area. The
committee also hopes to maintain an open dialogue with local
ranchers about source water issues.

Colleen Williams of the Colorado Rural Water Association said
that from the information gathered during the last several
months, she will construct a draft plan detailing the
strategies to protect Brush source water.

She will present the plan for the steering committee to
consider at the group’s next meeting. All are welcome to attend
and participate in the meeting, which will begin at 1:30 p.m.
on Oct. 15 in the council chambers of Brush City Hall, located
at 600 Edison St.