The Southern Ute Indian Tribe this week criticized the fossil fuel company responsible for a large-scale gasoline spill that occurred within the reservation south of Durango in December.
An underground pipeline owned by Enterprise Products Partners ruptured sometime on or before Dec. 5, gushing 23,000 gallons of gasoline into the ground off County Road 219, within the exterior boundaries of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. The incident is considered the largest gasoline spill in recent Colorado history.
The company’s cleanup efforts have lacked urgency and transparency, according to Tribal Chairman Melvin J. Baker. The gasoline directly impacted privately owned lands within the reservation boundaries.
In a news release Monday, the tribe said Enterprise has been insufficient in its efforts to minimize impacts and risk to the Animas River and tribal resources.
“We'd like to see increased urgency from Enterprise and the state in the remediation,” Baker told The Durango Herald.
A spokesman for Enterprise did not respond to the tribe’s statement and instead provided the company’s latest monthly pamphlet detailing its response to the incident.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is responsible for enforcing Enterprise’s cleanup and investigating the incident.
“At CDPHE, we are committed to protecting public health, holding polluters accountable, and partnering with impacted communities and governments,” said Patrick Cummins, the agency’s director of environmental health and protection, in an email through a spokesman. “We take the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s concerns seriously and are providing ongoing oversight to ensure the Enterprise Products cleanup continues until environmental standards are met and affected residents are protected.”
The pipeline cracked due to stress and corrosion, according to an updated report filed with federal regulators. That location was last inspected in 2023.
In the five months since the spill, Enterprise has removed 2,700 cubic yards of soil containing an estimated 13,000 gallons of gasoline, according to reports filed with state regulators. Another 194 gallons were extracted from nearby contaminated drinking water wells. The company has also drilled several dozen monitoring and recovery wells and installed cisterns and filters for neighbors whose water wells were contaminated or potentially affected.
One couple who lived across the road from the point of rupture was forced out of their home by the fumes and contamination. They spoke in depth about their experience to the Herald in January but were not at liberty to do so this week, other than to say they’ve been communicating with Enterprise about finding solutions. County records show the couple purchased a new home last month.
Since late February, Enterprise has increased its estimate of total costs associated with the spill from just under $300,000 to just over $6 million.
Baker raised specific concerns about possible contamination of the Animas River, which runs about half a mile from the spill site.
“We're aware that it’s within proximity of the Animas River, and our goal is we just don't want it to reach the Animas River,” he told the Herald. “I know Enterprise does have some things they’re working on to try to prevent that, but … that is a concern.”
A well downhill of the spill, near the river, has shown low levels of contamination that do not exceed health and safety limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Currently, there are no indications that the Animas River has been impacted or will be impacted in the future,” a CDPHE spokesman said.
On April 23, Enterprise signed off on a corrective action plan proposed by CDPHE.
Under the terms of the plan, Enterprise must submit by May 23 a series of documents, including an Animas River contingency plan outlining how it will capture, limit and address the spread of hydrocarbon near the river.
All reports, notices and communications must be sent not only to CDPHE but also to the tribe. That’s good news for the tribe, which has requested that its own environmental experts be kept in the loop.
Both state regulators and Chairman Baker acknowledge that the remediation efforts are likely to take years. The point of the tribe’s statement, it seemed, was to keep the pressure on.
“We kind of just let them know that this is urgent,” Baker said. “’We need you to respond sooner than later.’ But, of course, I know that they have a lot of data to look at and figure out (in) coming up with a plan.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
