Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper released the state’s response following a three month review of oil and gas operations after a severed natural gas flowline contributed to a home explosion in Firestone, Colorado, in April that killed two people and injured a third.
“At the time of the explosion, we committed to do all we could to ensure that what happened to the Martinez and Irwin families never happens again,” Hickenlooper said in a press release.
The Governor is directing work on policy initiatives. Change will come either through rulemaking or legislation, the governor’s office said, and will fall into these areas:
- Strengthening COGCC’s flowline regulations
- Enhancing the 8-1-1 “one-call” program
- Creating a nonprofit orphan well fund to plug and abandon orphan wells and provide refunds for in-home methane monitors
- Prohibiting future domestic gas taps on the property of mineral owners
- Creating a technical workgroup to improve safety training
- Requesting peer-review of some COGCC rules
- Exploring an ambient methane leak detection pilot program
These initiatives should be completed within 12 months the governor’s office said in a statement.
Also, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) will be formally announcing that it is establishing an alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association to collaboratively address safety within the oil and gas Industry by developing best practices to ensure the safety and health of its workforce.
”Our state is fortunate to receive a federal grant to evaluate and address worker safety specific to oil and gas operations” said Dr. Larry Wolk, executive director of CDPHE. “Public health and safety protections need to extend to these workers and we are fortunate to have the collaborative support and leadership of the the Governor, industry and our federal agency partners.”
Launching in September, the partners will meet monthly to share information, determine status of activities and evaluate results, according to the governor’s statement.
