Environment

Colorado, USA Fracking

Colorado is one of the most densely fracked areas in the United States, and people are now beginning to worry about the stability of those fracking sites and wells, many of which have been completely covered by the floodwater. At least one pipeline has already been confirmed to be broken and leaking, and as the Colorado flooding subsides, it is only expected that more broken infrastructure and leaks will begin to surface.

Although no wells appear to be leaking, there are even more serious potential worries. Well sites often contain tanks of toxic wastewater and supplies of potentially hazardous chemicals used in the drilling or extraction processes, which might be damaged by floodwaters and spring leaks. The sites also contain a "spider web" of myriad pipes connecting the wells to tanks or processing equipment, any of which potentially can fracture. If such failures occur, these substances could be picked up by floodwaters, and then contaminate streams, rivers, reservoirs, and other bodies of surface water.

Groundwater contamination, however, probably isn't a major worry. Although the drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing creates fissures that critics say put groundwater at risk of contamination, almost all of the wells in the affected area appear to be active wells that already have been drilled, and little or no fracking currently is going on.

Potential leaks of chemicals and toxic wastewater from the well sites was a "reasonable concern," but so far, there's no evidence of it occurring. To the contrary, inspectors have found only "minor incidents" at the sites, including a free-floating tank that turned out to be empty, and other tanks that had been knocked askew on their foundations by floodwaters, but which hadn't failed. There also were two broken pipelines - one of which was repaired by an on-site crew, while the other was shut down remotely.