Public meeting announced for Chevron update on Northern Colorado oil and gas leak
A public meeting has been scheduled for June 26 by the Energy and Carbon Management Commission to provide an update on the oil and gas incident in Galeton. The special hearing has been for Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
The incident happened on April 6, and the release from the well was stopped four days later. It was at the Chevron Bishop well near the town of Galeton. The well is operated by Bishop subsidiary Noble Energy, Inc.
Earlier this month, Chevron submitted the accident report to the ECMC, which revealed what happened leading up to the incident.
A contractor was hurt when they were installing what's called a "production tree" on a well, and a sudden "loss of containment" occurred because the equipment wasn't installed properly. As a result, a mixture of water, oil and gas shot into the air.
An extensive cleanup of the area around the well has been ongoing since the incident started. The company said the fluid that came from the well was 80% produced water and 20% oil and gas. Chevron estimates approximately 800,000 gallons of liquid spilled out of the well.
A total of 14 families were displaced during the incident and cleanup. An elementary school was also closed for a time.