5,250 gallons of oil spill into South Platte River
Industry crews have placed absorbent booms in the South Platte River south of Milliken where at least 5,250 gallons of crude oil has spilled from two tank batteries into the flood-swollen river.
The spill from a damaged tank was reported to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Wednesday afternoon by Anadarko Petroleum, as is required by state law.
State officials have responded to the spill site, which is south of Milliken near where the St. Vrain River flows into the South Platte.
Nearly 1,900 oil and gas wells in flooded areas of Colorado are shut, and 600 industry personnel are inspecting and repairing sites, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Crews are inspecting operations, conducting aerial and ground surveillance, identifying and determining locations of possible impairments, the association said Tuesday.
Anadarko, the second-largest operator in the operator in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, has shut about 10 percent of its operations — 250 tank batteries and 670 wells.
In a statement, Anadarko said: “To date, we are aware of two tank batteries that were damaged by flood waters, and have associated light-oil releases. The releases occurred in flood waters associated with the South Platte River and the St. Vrain River, and we have reported them to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the National Response Center, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
"We are actively working under the oversight of these agencies to contain and clean up the releases to the greatest extent possible. We will continue to provide additional information as appropriate."
State inspectors also have fanned along the river to assess environmental damage from toppled oil and gas facilities after the floods.
The flood that began late last week toppled dozens of oil and gas storage tanks and swamped other production facilities at sites in the flood plain. Earlier this week, oil drums, some empty, some full, could be seen floating in the river as far east as Kersey.
"This is the first specific incident where we have a clear indication of the problem," state natural resources spokesman Todd Hartman said.
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