Texas-based Enterprise Products LLC has purchased five homes south of Durango as part of its remediation efforts after a gasoline leak that spilled 97,000 gallons of fuel late last year, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“Ownership of these properties gives them access to additional locations for cleanup activities,” said CDPHE spokesman Branden Ingersoll.
Public records from the La Plata County Assessor’s Office show that 38 Niente LLC, a subsidiary of Enterprise, bought five homes along County Road 219, Riverview Ranch Road and Diamond Drive – all south of Farmington Hill on the Florida Mesa.
An Enterprise spokesperson declined to comment about the home sales, instead referring to the company’s November community bulletin, which describes remediation updates.
The Durango Herald attempted to contact former homeowners but was unable to reach them.
Ingersoll said the company has started removing gas from the soil and groundwater through various methods, including installing monitoring wells around the affected area, soil vapor extraction and biosparging – a process in which air is introduced into the groundwater to reduce concentrations of dissolved gasoline.
Buying the homes, Ingersoll said, was necessary to facilitate that work. The company has hired GHD Services Inc. to work on cleaning the spill.
Laura Dixon, another CDPHE spokesperson, said the department has not been notified about whether the spill has worsened since it was originally reported in August.
“In August, Enterprise notified us that they increased the estimated release volume to 97,000 gallons from their original estimate of 23,000 gallons,” she said. “We have not been notified that this volume has changed.”
CDPHE and Enterprise continue to monitor the site, Ingersoll said.
“Under our oversight, Enterprise’s investigation is continuing to fully define the nature and extent of contamination in the area of the spill, and the cleanup activities initiated earlier this year have been significantly expanded,” he said.
All affected residents were immediately supplied with potable water, Ingersoll said, and Enterprise will continue to supply drinking water until the threat of contamination is eliminated and impacted wells are restored to acceptable standards. All impacted properties, including 19 other homes near the spill, have a filtration system to ensure gasoline is not in their drinking water.
“We are confident that immediate risks to residents have been addressed,” he said. “Monitoring and remediation efforts may expand in the future, and we will continue to actively assess and oversee the cleanup until all state and federal standards for water and soil have been achieved.”
Because the spill occurred on the Southern Ute Indian reservation, the tribe is working alongside CDPHE to ensure it is properly cleaned up. Because of the spill’s proximity to the Animas River, a contingency plan is in place in case the gas leeches into the river.
The tribe did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
“There is an Animas River Contingency Plan that includes frequent monitoring of domestic and monitoring wells, as well as sampling of seeps and springs,” Ingersoll said. “This plan allows for effective assessment of potential risks to the Animas River. We continue to monitor the situation closely. If we determine that additional measures are necessary, we will require Enterprise to implement them accordingly.”
According to the contingency plan, Enterprise and GHD must “reduce or eliminate” any contaminants in the Animas River “tributaries or irrigation conveyances with hydrologic or hydraulic connection” to it.
“Action levels, at a minimum, must be protective of human health and ecological receptors,” the action plan said.
For Patrick Goddard, owner of Rainbow Ranch Trout Farm just southwest of the spill, Enterprise has not been very transparent throughout the remediation process. In December 2024, when the spill was initially reported, he lost some 80,000 young tiger, brook and rainbow trout at his hatchery. Officials from the Colorado Division of Wildlife reached out to ask about his fish, which they were concerned about due to the spill.
Later, he entered into talks with Enterprise trying to receive compensation for his fish.
“They’re still claiming that they had nothing to do with the loss of the 80,000 fish I have, and they pretty much cut off communication with me,” Goddard said. “So yeah, I’m not super stoked on them.”
He said the water feeding the part of the hatchery where the young fish were being raised came from a nearby spring on his property 120 feet below ground and downgradient from the spill. Roughly one million gallons of water flows through his farm a day, which he uses to raise his fish. When the spill occurred, Enterprise told him they would get to the bottom of the matter, but encouraged him not to test his fish for gasoline, he said.
“I’ve never had this much loss in my hatchery in the 20 years I’ve been doing this,” Goddard said. “My fish were like the canary in the coal mine. It doesn’t matter what the levels of petroleum is in there. They’re going to feel that. I should have checked the livers of those fish.”
He was less concerned about being compensated for his fish than making sure his neighbors and the community knew what was going on with the spill.
“What I’d asked for from Enterprise, and they agreed upon it initially, were weekly testings for five, six months, and then monthly testings for a good year, and then annual testings, because who knows how long this stuff’s going to sit in the earth,” Goddard said.
Ingersoll said CDPHE will continue to oversee Enterprise’s remediation work for as long as it takes for the site to be completely cleaned up, which may take years.
“Corrective action cleanup includes a series of treatment technologies to clean up soil, soil vapor, and groundwater, followed by extensive confirmation sampling,” he said. “While Enterprise has made significant progress to remediate this spill, we expect the full cleanup will take several years. Our oversight will continue until Enterprise meets all applicable environmental standards, and we ensure that all affected residents remain protected.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
