As of Tuesday, the state’s oil and gas operators should have inspected their pipelines within 1,000 feet of occupied buildings. In Garfield County, it’s unclear how many of those there are.
Earlier this month, Gov. John Hickenlooper demanded oil and gas operators check their wells and pipelines near buildings. This came after two men died in a gas explosion caused by a leaky flowline.
The operators also need to give the state the location of their flowlines, and there are currently no maps showing where these run.
State data suggests there are over 1,700 oil and gas wells within 1,000 feet of buildings in Garfield County. Each one of these has at least one flowline. However, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) said this data deserves skepticism. It has not independently vetted the geographic information system (GIS) the data relies on.
Oil and gas operators now have until June 30 to test flowlines within 1,000 feet of buildings.
