4 in 10 higher risk wells aren't inspected by feds

Source: AP-Excite

By HOPE YEN and THOMAS PEIPERT

NEW CASTLE, Colo. (AP) — Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America's drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks.

Roughly half or more of wells on federal and Indian lands weren't checked in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, despite potential harm that has led to efforts in some communities to ban new drilling.

In New Castle, a tiny Colorado River valley community, homeowners expressed chagrin at the large number of uninspected wells, many on federal land, that dot the steep hillsides and rocky landscape. Like elsewhere in the West, water is a precious commodity in this Colorado town, and some residents worry about the potential health hazards of any leaks from wells and drilling.

"Nobody wants to live by an oil rig. We surely didn't want to," said Joann Jaramillo, 54.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140615/us--oil_and_gas-federal_oversight-0b45f58d59.html

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ADVANCE FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 15 AND THEREAFTER - This photo taken June 9, 2014 shows a horse named Primo grazing in front of the home of local resident Joann Aramillo, with an oil and gas rig on a well pad visible a few hundred yards away, top right, in New Castle, a small farming and ranching settlement on the Western Slope of the Rockies, in Colo. Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America's drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)