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May 22, 2009 08:17 PM UTC

COGA's forked tongue

  • 27 Comments
  • by: ClubTwitty

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

The price of natural gas for delivery in June through August ranges between $3.15 and $3.59 per thousand cubic feet on the Rocky Mountain market – down from nearly $7 per unit one year ago.

“At the end of the day, what caused the downturn – and what will bring it back – is the commodity prices for natural gas and crude oil,” Ensign’s Matthews said. Natural gas prices often follow those for crude oil on the markets.

Denver Business Journal, May 22, 2009

Reality, facts, or fairness seldom get in the way of the world’s richest industry arguing that any regulation is bad, that the fair sharing of revenue is ‘socialism,’ and that Big Oil has nothing but the best interest of consumers and a clean earth in mind in all it does, every time, every day.

Republicans and their cash constituents (the mostly out-of-state oil and gas companies) are sharpening their knives in hope that by doing the bidding of their corporate masters, often at the expense of the actual citizens who live in their districts, the path to political power will be opened to them like a newly bladed access road across someone’s (former) pasture.  And Governor Ritter is target number one.  

“It starts with Gov. Ritter and his new energy program. Is it going to make it or not? The changes that he’s taken risks on – did he take the right risks or not?” said John Martin, a Republican commissioner in gas-rich Garfield County. “It also deals with the positions of the local folks, from the mayors to the county commissioners. It’s a very huge issue, along with the economy.”

But it doesn’t end there.  As Martin’s quote suggests, 2010 is likely to see the oil and gas industry (and their GOP waterboys) target races up and down the ballot, as they did (with illegal activity) to re-elect John Martin in 2008.

And, consistent to character, the industry is not above talking out of both sides of their mouths in their effort to do so.  Regarding a recent resolution passed by the Glenwood Springs City Council, unanimously, that would re-regulate under the Safe Drinking Water Act ‘fraccing,’ the process of pumping under extreme pressure a toxic cocktail by the truckload into the ground –COGA attorney Ken Wonstolen accuses the Council of catering to environmentalists (as if safe drinking water is such a limited concern).  

Ken Wonstolen, attorney for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, wrote an email to council members calling the action “unnecessary and ill-advised. It can only be regarded as a political statement in support of certain environmental organizations seeking to erect every roadblock possible to prevent oil and gas development.”

Duplicity as standard practice, Wonstolen also noted that:

Wonstolen and McClean argued that the new state regulations, which provide more disclosure of the chemicals and insert safeguards to protect against groundwater contamination, are better at regulating the industry than federal regulations, although COGA is also battling the state regulations.

The list of mishaps–poisoned wells and streams, sediment dumps, trucks careening out of control and dumping chemicals on city streets, well fires, explosions, toxic exposure, and other (predictable) accidents–grows.  But protecting clean drinking water–according to COGA–is best left to the states, except it’s not: COGA is suing to block these regulations too.  

Although they routinely claim that fraccing does no harm to water sources, industry opposes simple regulations ensuring that it is so, and even opposes telling local communities, and first responders, what type of toxins are in their midst.  

Maybe COGA and it’s well-heeled 527s and off-the-books political activity will successfully fool Coloradans into letting this one industry call all the shots about how it will operate in our towns, communities, forests, and state.  

Or maybe their constant whine opposing any change in the status quo–and the constant reminder of how impactful this activity really is emphasized with each mishap–will finally demonstrate their true intentions: make as much money as they can, then quickly leave the state when their profits drop, leaving economic malaise–and environmental destruction–in their wake, as they jet back to Tulsa, Houston, or Calgary.    

Comments

27 thoughts on “COGA’s forked tongue

  1. when they whine so much.  

    I was on a BP-sponsored focus group about a year and a half ago.  It was fascinating.  Most of the people there lived in town but almost everyone didn’t trust oil & gas companies.  Our suggestion to them was for them to get more into energy production – renewable energy, that is.  Since BP makes solar panels, we thought they would improve their image if they started some major solar arrays – in our area.  This is Colorado, we kind of have a lot of sun…

    My dream is to see every flat roof covered with panels.  Then it would be interesting to see how things would work with the gas companies.  Althought I don’t expect it would make much difference.

  2. You are blinded by your fervent opposition to any and all oil and gas development. And your posts on this site lack credibility as a result.

    First of all, fracing does not involve a “toxic cocktail.” The fluid used in the process is 99 percent water and sand, injected about a mile below the water table. It’s a process that’s been around for 60 years without a single documented instance of fracing leading to groundwater contamination.

    Regulating the process under the Safe Drinking Water Act makes absolutely no sense given a complete lack of evidence that fracing has ever harmed drinking water. It would force producers to use potable water to frac a well, which would stretch Colorado’s water resources even more thinly than they already are.

    States have closely regulated fracing for years, and they’ve done a damn good job, as the safety record attests. Why bring federal bureaucrats into the mix?

    Extreme environmentalists’ newfound hatred for fracing is nothing more than an attempt to end domestic energy production altogether. Their arguments, just like yours, Mr. Twitty, are based entirely on a general dislike of the energy industry and lack any factual backing.

    Finally, Mr. Wonstolen is not “talking out of both sides of his mouth.” The chemical reporting portion of the rulemaking enjoyed support from all parties.

    1. And who might you be, “Nate”? Funny that you signed up today, of all days, just in time to comment about COGA. I’m sure it’s nothing more than a coincidence.

    2. or the HazMat teams regularly cleaning up the mess of another spill in the gaspatch.

      Pointing out the constant misinformation coming from the industry, or their duplicity, doesn’t make me opposed to all oil and gas development, although I understand that industry has no other charge then to reduce its critics to caricatures.

      The impacts of fraccing on water supplies, while denied by industry, are increasingly documented.

      http://features.csmonitor.com/

      And representatives of fraccing companies did–in fact–object vociferously to the disclosure requirements, although facing nurses being put in the ICU and other mishaps, they did not dig in there in their lawsuit to block the regulations.

    3. The concerns center mainly around the injected fluid. Most comes back to the surface, but 30 to 40 percent is never recovered, according to industry estimates.

      The composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids is proprietary, and energy companies are vehement about the need to keep the contents secret to protect their competitive edge. That confidentiality is protected by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

      “We now use five to 10 ‘frac’ jobs per well, with up to 100 million gallons of fluid used per frac,” says geologist Geoffrey Thyne of the University of Wyoming, whose analysis of the large gas fields around Divide Creek found elevated methane and chloride levels in groundwater samples.

      “They are injecting fluid that may or may not be hazardous into thousands of wells and not recovering all of it. We have to ask, what is in those fluids and where does the fluid go?” says Mr. Thyne.

      Theo Colborn, a leading researcher on the effects of toxins on the human endocrine system, has been trying to glean what is in the injection fluid.

      Preliminary results of her study identify 65 chemicals that are probable components. She is urging that groundwater sampling be expanded to determine whether these chemicals or their byproducts are showing up in areas where hydraulic fracturing is being used.

      So, using your figure (with no cite, so pretending that it might be true) that 99% of the fraccing compounds are sand and water, let’s consider…

      Assuming 500 gallons of fraccing fluid per well (or double that), 1% = 5 (to 10) million gallons of chemicals being pumped into the ground per well, with about 1.5 million (or twice that) never being recovered, per well, multiplied by hundreds and hundreds of wells.

    4. It’s nice to see hollow attempts at disinformation (offered up by “Nate”) blown away so soundly.

      I would say “this is a no-brainer,” but clearly there are plenty of people without brains who buy the gas and oil industry’s utterly disingenuous arguments. In reality, there is no peril to Colorado’s economy of regulating the extraction of these fungible resources that must be harvested where they are found. There is, however, enormous peril to Colorado’s natural environment, and to those who must drink the water that is, in fact, contaminated in the absence of such regulation.

      Casting “extreme environmentalists” as being dedicated to the downfall of domestic energy production is an improbable non-sequitor. Actually, “extreme environmentalists” are most highly committed to domestic energy production, and particularly to Colorado energy production, relying on environmentally sound practices to do so.

      Colorado has a great deal to gain by focusing on green energy and environmentally sound practices in all facets of energy production: We are at the forefront of the renewable energy industry; we have an abundance of sun and wind; and we have a very vibrant tourism industry based on the quality of our natural environment. We also have residents who prefer to drink uncontaminated water.

    5. Is this you ?  Sheesh – get a better sign in name !

      “The industry in Colorado right now is under attack by these regulations,” said Nate Strauch, spokesman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

      1. Fidel, you devil. Good job. Nice to know COGA is monitoring the blogs and that Nate is the damage control guy. Also nice to see he is poorly qualified for the job, from the look of his performance in this diary.

    6. If it’s just sand and water, why are the fraccing formulas regarded as proprietary?

      1 percent is 10,000 parts per million.  Common contaminant levels in water are measured in the parts per billion.

      Contrast the free ride the oil and gas companies get with the laws regulating uranium solution mining.  A company that pumps sodium carbonate (also known as “washing soda”) solution into the ground has to restore the aquifer to drinking water standards.  Oil and gas companies can pump whatever they want into the ground, not tell the public what it is, and not have to clean it up later.

      I have no problem with an aquifer restoration requirement, but it should apply to all crap that’s pumped into the gound, not just some of it.

      Since you know so much, why not tell us what’s in that other 1 percent?

  3. What industry and their elected beholden politicans say:

    http://www.businessweek.com/ap

    “The industry in Colorado right now is under attack by these regulations,” said Nate Strauch, spokesman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/den

    “They will conspire with broader economic forces to kill jobs and reduce energy production at a time when Colorado – and America – need a lot more of both,” Penry said.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/den

    In the name of environmental protection-something current law already ensures-legislative Democrats are limiting access to Colorado’s vast natural-gas reserves in a way that undermines our entire nation’s energy security while also dealing a blow to our state’s ability to create jobs.”

    -Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R Berthoud

    “Waving off warnings that they are crippling the state’s No. 1 industry, Senate Democrats rammed through new regulations on energy development throughout Colorado, … rejecting a final Republican effort to soften the blow of the rules on the state’s slumping economy.”

    – Colorado Senate Minority Office

    http://www.bizjournals.com/den

    Industry leaders and Republicans in the Legislature say the rules are among the factors that are forcing traditional energy companies to retreat from Colorado.

    They contend that the timing of the new rules is badly timed considering a global recession that is already costing jobs in every sector.

    Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, said he believed the new rules will encourage oil and gas companies to leave Colorado and he questioned whether they’d return again.

    “If these regulations remain in place, Colorado will be the last place oil and gas businesses will return to,” Liston said.

    What energy economists say:

    http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/

    But two bullies in the market–weak demand and unrelenting supply–suffocated a 40% gain this week. Thursday, the Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas inventories continue to climb faster than expected. Supply in storage is a third higher than it was this time last year, 22% above the five-year average. Small exploration and production companies have fallen by the wayside, seeking bankruptcy protection, while others teeter on stock prices measured in nickels and dimes. Gas traded Friday at $3.54, back in the trough where analysts say it belongs.

    Three words: Too. Much. Gas,” says energy analyst David Pursell, of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

    1. The lies of the industry and their elected shills need to see the light of day.  The are complete obstructionists to any sort of progress and have shown themselves to be devoid of any concern to the communities and people that the impact.  Hopefully sooner rather than later they will realize that collaborating with others is the only way to do business.

  4. oil and gas industry pollution

    Whoops! Last week, a plastic liner slipped, and fracing fluid and other drilling sludge waste spilled into the soil at an EnCana rig south of Silt in Western Garfield County — a couple of hundred feet from a rancher’s water well and in the Colorado River watershed.

    So how does an oil company get rid of the problem like that? Bury it!

    More Here: http://www.journeyoftheforsake

    1. to purposefully glut the market and benefit consumers, you know, ‘Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less.’

      It’s like their real strategy is ‘Drill Where We Want, When We Want (and how we want), (consumers) Pay More.’

      If companies were concerned about stable economies and jobs they would have not ramped up so fast just to fatten their profits, but would have developed the Piceance at a more sustainable rate.  

      There is no such thing as a Boom Only economy…its a sustainable economy or a Boom and Bust economy.  Been there, done that, if only we would learn…

      1. The long term strategy for the oil and gas industry is obvious. They have an interest in one thing only – making as much money as they can and how do they do that? They put misleading commercials on TV that imply that all we have to do is drill more and we will have all of the oil and gas we need forever, even though they know that oil especially is a dwindling resource. Their goal is to soften the support for alternative energy because they know if we don’t prepare or delay preparation for a new energy economy their products, oil and gas, will become even more valuable as the demand goes up while the supply continues to dwindle.

  5. are another major reason that gas drilling in the West is taking a relative hit, although that hit is not limited to Colorado, as the Baker-Hughes weekly rig reports show. http://www.kjct8.com/Global/st

    The shale plays are cheaper to develop, and the market is right there–rather than having to be shipped a thousand miles via limited pipeline capacity.  Another thing COGA Nate and his compadres fail to mention as they blame all economic woes on regulations that just went into effect, and don’t impact the thousands of drilling permits already in the pipeline.

    So the oil and gas companies have increased their activity into places like NY and PA, and where the industry goes, complaints from the peons who actually have to live in the drilling fields inevitably increase:

    http://www.upstreamonline.com/

    Fraccing draws scrutiny in Pennsylvania

    Natural gas companies rushing to exploit Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania have launched a public relations campaign to calm fears the bonanza is contaminating water with toxic chemicals.

    …Though scientists have yet to find definitive evidence that drilling chemicals have seeped into ground water, there are dozens of anecdotal reports from around the state that water supplies in gas-production areas have been tainted.

    …People in gas-drilling areas say their well water has become discolored or foul-smelling; their pets and farm animals have died from drinking it; and their children have suffered from diarrhea and vomiting.

    Bathing in well water can cause rashes and inflammation, and ponds bubble with methane that has escaped during drilling, they say.

    That’s the challenge facing Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for Texas-based Range Resources who recently told around 150 residents at the Hickory fire hall that new drilling techniques are much less damaging to the landscape than traditional ones, and that energy companies are subject to strict environmental regulations.

    But NOT the Safe Drinking Water Act, thanks to the GOP-controlled Congress of 2005.  

    And not by their own desires, but because occasionally regulations get passed even against industry’s strident opposition.  

    Wonder if they mention that in their PR blitz?

    1. for keeping them honest. Nate Strauch is just another in a long line of industry mouthpieces who, to quote a recent TV commercial, wouldn’t know the truth if it sat in their lap and called them, “Mama”.

      Last years’ hiring of Jon Swartout, formerly of GOCO, by COGA was supposed to be a turnaround for the industry group. By hiring a man with real credibility to be their spokeperson, some within the industry lobby hoped to change the groups reputation for being little more than a cabal of highly paid liars. It didn’t work out, however.

      Mr. Swartout left COGA after a very short time. Apparently, too many elements within COGA resisted his efforts to bring a committment to truth and cooperation to the organization. He was unwilling to follow COGAs’ traditional practice of dishonesty so the job was given back to Meg Collins (who many consider to be little more than Greg Schnacke in a blue dress.)

      The pervasive mindset of the rulers of O&G is guided by one simple principle… We are the Oil and Gas industry and NOBODY tells us what to do. Demonizing and vilifying anyone who challenges them is just SOP.

  6. Thanks for all your efforts looking into this industry over the years. And for your quick responses to Nate’s “misinformation” on this post.

    Bummer that I’ve been out of town and couldn’t participate in this diary in real-time.

  7. It’s called hydraulic fracturing, or fracing (pronounced “fracking”), and it involves injecting chemical-filled fluid thousands of feet below the surface, which expands existing fractures in the rock and allows gas to rise.

    Allegations are now popping up across the country that fracing is contaminating groundwater and causing illnesses and environmental problems.

    But Thyne says no one can prove a link because no one outside the oil and gas companies knows what chemicals are going into the ground.

    “Without that knowledge, then there’s always going to be some ambiguity or lack of positive assignment of responsibility,” Thyne said.

    The oil and gas industry won the right to keep their chemical mixture secret in 2005, when the government exempted fracing from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

    “The federal government has said you can’t make any rules about hydraulic fracing even though any other type of material injected into the subsurface has to meet federal or state guidelines,” Thyne said.

    The industry says keeping the mixtures’ makeup private is vital.

    “The formulas are proprietary trade secrets and the companies have worked hard to give themselves a competitive edge,” said Doug Hock, a spokesperson for EnCana, the gas company that’s working near Bracken’s land.

    http://www.9news.com/seenon9ne…  

    1. is not fair.  Making sure sufficient revenue–from the natural wealth being taken from the state–comes back to the state, and to the impacted communities is fairness.

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