Oil, gas well effects hard to pin down

Agencies in early stages of probing link between drilling, human illness

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 28, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

Text size

Photo by Matt McClain / The Rocky

Sharon Britton plays solitaire as she sits with her husband, Jim, in their recreational vehicle in the parking lot of their church in October. They left their rural Adams County home and have since gone to Arizona to stay with relatives.

Photo by Special to the Rocky

Sharon and Jim Britton erected this accusatory sign on their property before moving away.

More Local News

Map my news

Sharon Britton says oil and gas companies contaminated her water and made her sick, forcing her to desert her home in rural Adams County.

Proving it, however, is another thing.

Her plight, as she tells it, dates to at least 2004, when water from her well showed a dark-grayish tint. Laundered clothes came out dingy.

A representative from United States Exploration Inc., which owned an oil and gas well on Britton's land at the time, came to visit. According to Britton, he said their water showed high iron levels. A water filter appeared to solve that problem.

But early in 2006, Britton said she started having health problems, including a rash across her torso. She also had excessive thirst.

In October 2006, her husband, Jim, heard gurgling around their water well. Soon after, state regulators and Noble Energy - the new owner of the oil well - discovered that methane linked to its well was tainting the Britton's water supply.

Memos from Noble Energy indicate the company immediately set to work to fix the problem, and did so quickly. Two weeks later, tests showed no more methane gas from the oil well in the Britton's water well.

Since then, Britton's rash has improved some, but she said other physical problems have persisted. She said doctors believe her struggles may be linked to water contamination, and this summer - on their advice, she said - she left the property near Hudson.

She and her husband have since gone to stay with relatives in Arizona.

Before leaving, they posted a large sign on their property for passers-by to see, accusing oil companies of ruining their water and refusing to accept responsibility.

Sharon Britton said the family should be compensated for their health problems and what she believes is lost property value.

In making her case, however, Britton has run into the same challenge as others who suspect oil and gas work near their homes has made them ill: Health research hasn't kept pace with Colorado's gas and oil boom, where people and energy drilling increasingly share the landscape.

Regulators from the Environmental Protection Agency down to state and local health departments are in the earliest stages of trying to understand what, if any, connection there is between complaints from rural residents about fatigue, headaches, rashes and other ills and fumes or tainted water resulting from drilling.

"EPA hasn't gone out there to do much sampling, but from the data we're seeing, we're not seeing a smoking gun," said Susan Griffin, a Denver-based toxicologist with the agency, in an interview this fall. "That's just based on data we've received, and I think we could be doing a whole lot better."

Mounting anecdotal evidence, however, has caught the attention of state lawmakers. New legislation calls for greater consultation between the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment. A rulemaking process to spell out just how that would work is under way.

Energy company responds

Noble Energy spokesman Stephen Flaherty said the company takes Britton's health "concerns very seriously." He added the company is "continuing to work with her to resolve those issues."

Flaherty said the company moved quickly when the methane leak was discovered.

"We became aware of the potential leak on Oct. 4, 2006, and we immediately (shut the) well and worked around the clock to get a crew there on Oct. 5," he said. "We encouraged the Brittons to contact (state regulators at the) Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and we contacted the COGCC as well."

In memos to COGCC, Noble Energy's environmental coordinator, Chris Del Hierro, detailed steps the company has taken to address Britton's health worries, including paying the cost of bottled water.

In March, Del Hierro wrote, "Mrs. Britton recently sent an e-mail requesting additional (water well) analyses in order to assist her chosen professionals in evaluating possible causes of her rash. While many of these analyses are unrelated to our operations, (Noble) has directed (a consultant) to collect all requested analyses during the latest sampling event.

"The decision to collect and pay for all the additional analyses was made in the interest of working with the Brittons and assisting in their pursuit of a cause for the rashes."

Meanwhile, Noble is negotiating with the couple. "I believe we've met with them in the last month to try and resolve the issue," Flaherty said.

Secret settlements

A recent Rocky Mountain News series reported that oil and gas companies have at times reached secret settlements with people complaining about contamination related to oil and gas impacts.

Some of those cases include purchases of residents' homes and water wells.

No one has tallied how many such settlements have occurred in Colorado, though one activist group counted at least five in Garfield County.

Noble may face a penalty from the state's oil and gas commission because of the methane gas reaching the Britton's water well, said spokeswoman Tricia Beaver.

"There is pending enforcement," Beaver said. "Any time we're doing enforcement the possibility exists - the likelihood in most cases - of a fine."

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News