Colorado Oil And Gas Conservation Commission Investigating Accusations That Drillers Injected 1.3 Million Gallons Of Diesel Fuel Into Ground

1.3 Million Gallons Of Diesel Fuel Into The Ground? State Looking Into Accusations

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is investigating claims made in a congressional report regarding the injection of diesel fuel into the ground during natural gas extraction.

The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent reported on Friday that Dave Neslin, executive director of the COGCC, said on Thursday at meeting of the Northwest Colorado Oil and Gas Forum that the commission was "currently reviewing [its] records" on the issue.

The congressional report, issued in late January in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, suggested that tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel have been injected into the ground in 19 states as a part of the controversial extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The report suggested that 1.3 million gallons may have been used in Colorado.

Fracking involves pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the earth at high pressures in order to free up natural gas.

Democrats on the committee alleged that the use of diesel fuel in the Fracking process was a violation of the 2005 safe drinking water act.

"Today we call on the EPA to determine whether the public has been put at risk as a result of these irresponsible and possibly unlawful activities," said Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat who sits on the Energy and Commerce committee, said after the report was issued.

The Post-Independent reports that Neslin stressed on Thursday that the congressional report suggested no evidence that diesel fuel contaminated water sources in any of the states where it has been used for fracking.

He also said that the state is now looking into two particular frack jobs in Colorado. He reiterated that no evidence has been found in Colorado to suggest that chemicals from fracking have infiltrated drinking water sources.

The meeting came on the heels of a New York Times report that suggested greater environmental risks--particularly to water supplies--from fracking than previously thought.

Also this week, Obama administration officials testified before congress that they would step up scrutiny of waste disposal practices from hydraulic fracturing as a result of the study.

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