Regulators Say ‘No Immediate Threat’ To Firestone Neighborhood From Nearby Oil & Gas Wells

· Apr. 27, 2017, 7:02 pm
Photo: Firestone Neighborhood Well Head - MJonas/TimesCallCouresty of Matthew Jonas/Longmont Times-Call
A well head in a fenced-off area near the house that exploded and burned in the 6300 block of Twilight Avenue in Firestone. The explosion killed two people inside the home and injured two others.

State oil and gas regulators say a neighborhood in Weld County is safe, after a home explosion killed two men in a house last week. Officials aren’t sure what caused the explosion in Firestone which was near a natural gas well run by Anadarko Petroleum.

The explosion led Anadarko, the state’s largest oil driller to temporarily shut down 3,000 similar vertical wells in Northeast Colorado out of an “abundance of caution,” according to a statement. The company says it could be up to four weeks until the wells, which produce about 13,000 barrels of oil a day, are inspected and brought back online.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission got involved in the investigation because there was an active vertical well less than 200 feet from the home. Matt Lapore, the agency’s executive director, says seven active wells near the neighborhood in Firestone have all been shut down.

“Based on all the investigations to date, COGCC believes there is no immediate threat to the environment or public safety associated with oil and gas operations in the neighborhood,” says Lapore.

The state says this action was taken solely by Anadarko, not at the request of the state. And no other operators, to its knowledge, have shut down vertical wells.

Anadarko declined further comment due to the ongoing investigation.

The well near the home that exploded was drilled by another company in 1993 before Anadarko acquired it in 2014, according to the COGCC.

You care.

You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up.  The Lookout is a free, daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado. Sign up here and we will see you in the morning!