Groups seek answers about oil shale's impact on water

Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, June 8, 2007

Environmental groups Thursday demanded that companies hoping to develop Colorado's oil shale deposits explain how much water the process could consume and how it would affect water quality and supplies.

Six green groups, citing a 2006 analysis by a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher, said the yearly water requirements to produce oil from shale could equal the amount consumed annually by two Denver-sized cities. They also worry that using water in the mining process will leave it highly contaminated with salts.

"Colorado doesn't have a lot of water and has to take good care of what we have," said Elise Jones, of the Colorado Environmental Coalition. "There needs to be a full and open dialogue, especially on the Western Slope, of what's the highest and best use of those supplies."

Three companies are researching techniques to coax oil from underground rock in northwestern Colorado. Though it's likely to be several years, if ever, before the oil shale is harvested on a commercial scale, greens say now is the time to get specific on water use.

Jill Davis, a spokeswoman for Shell, said activists raise a good question, and emphasized that Shell is dedicated to "managing precious resources efficiently."

But, she said, not nearly enough is known about what she called "an immature industry" to quantify the impact on water supplies. The company needs to answer myriad questions about equipment and processes before it could begin to provide specifics on water, she said.

Green activists aren't the only ones wary of oil shale impacts. Other water users, including some on the Front Range, could see their access to Western Slope water slip if oil companies move ahead with development.

That's because, in some cases, the companies could use water rights that predate those owned by cities. The older rights, under Colorado water law, get priority.

A draft environmental impact statement prepared by the Bureau of Land Management and released to some government officials, but not yet to the public, apparently makes little reference to water impacts, said Cathy Kay, of Western Colorado Congress.

"In 2,000 pages, there's only five paragraphs on water," she said. "For what's most important to this state, and this whole operation, you've got so little information."

Activists noted that water consumed for oil shale could also threaten Colorado supplies if downstream states call for additional Colorado River water in a drought, or if global warming depletes flows in the river, as some climatologists have predicted.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048