Colorado regulators halt drilling at old landfill

[madamesilverspurs]

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20...ofile=1001

May, 1 2012
By T.M. Fasano and Jason Shueh


WINDSOR — Colorado regulators have ordered an energy company to stop drilling an oil well in a closed landfill in Windsor after the site was deemed a risk to the public due to hazardous toxic waste.

According to a Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission cease-and-desist order, a drilling rig — belonging to Ranchers Exploration Partners, based in Greeley — became unstable while drilling the well last week and landfill debris was reported to have been expelled from the well bore.

The order said the commission’s acting director, Thomas Kerr, found that Ranchers had failed to comply with regulations applied by both the commission and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“Specifically, the commission finds an emergency exists because Ranchers is not qualified to handle the potential hazardous toxic waste from the landfill ... drilling through the landfill and base layers has the potential to cause groundwater contamination,” the commission reported in the order.


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Sometimes I don't know whether to cry or to just smack my head against the nearest brick wall.

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